Police detain Kyrgyz Green leader in attempted rally near govt building
BISHKEK. Oct 9 (Interfax) - The Bishkek police detained eleven participants in an attempted rally supporting the nationalization of the Kumtor gold mine on Wednesday.
"We were detained in the morning after we gathered near the House of Government for a rally, which was announced in advance," Green Party leader Erkin Bulekbayev told Interfax.
The activists intended to support the nationalization of the Kumtor gold mine.
Bulekbayev said he was taken to the Bishkek Pervomaisky district police station together with ten supporters and charged with holding an unpermitted rally and resisting the authorities.
Bulekbayev was released with travel restrictions. Another public figure, former Kyrgyz ambassador to Turkey and Malaysia and former emergency situations minister Mambetzhunus Abylov, is being kept in the Bishkek police building to testify in a criminal case opened after the events of 2008 when he was in charge of the Kyrgyz diplomatic mission to Turkey.
"I am staying in the city police building and waiting for a meeting with detectives. Then a measure of restraint will be selected," Abylov told Interfax.
