Row Over Kyrgyz Court Seizure

Sunday, 20 November, 2005

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Leila Saralaeva

A war of words has broken out in Bishkek after an unidentified group of people this week seized the Kyrgyz Supreme Court building, which had been occupied for 46 days by supporters of politicians allegedly prevented from contesting the recent parliamentary elections.

Those who took part in the assault suggested their motive was to get the court working again, but there are claims that their action was politically motivated.

The protesters who had originally occupied the Supreme Court did so after its decision to reject appeals by politicians who claimed that they had been unfairly prevented from taking part in the February 27 and March 13 parliamentary elections by the then Akaev regime, which was overthrown in the so-called Tulip revolution at the end of March.

After unsuccessfully picketing the court, which drew no reaction from the authorities, the protesters seized the building on April 22 and demanded the resignation of the Supreme Court head Kurmanbek Osmonov and other Akaev appointees, who they blame for rubberstamping the election results.

Immediately after the protesters took control of the building, Osmonov offered his resignation, but later withdrew it, claiming that he would remain in the post until the upcoming presidential elections on July 10.

The work of the court was paralysed as a result. More than 300 criminal, civil and economic cases were not examined because the judges and other staff were unable to get into the building.

The standoff came to an end on June 1, when around 20 buses full of people arrived outside the court at 11 am and immediately called on the protesters inside the building to leave “and let it function normally”. When those inside resisted, the premises were stormed.

While units of the city police department were in place before the buses arrived, they did not intervene, and merely watched.

Erkin Kangeldiev, deputy head of the Bishkek police department, told IWPR that his officers could not do anything to prevent the situation getting out of hand. “But there is a recording of the events of June 1, and an investigation is underway – everyone guilty will be found and punished,” he promised.

Eyewitnesses told IWPR that the courthouse was seized after three attempts, as those in the building first repelled the attackers by throwing petrol bombs from upper windows.

One of the protesters occupying the building, Dilbarkhan Nurdinova, from Asanbai district, told IWPR that initially they were approached by women who began screaming that they wanted the court to open for business.

“We forced them back,” she said, “But five minutes later a crowd of 500 people came running up, mainly drunk young men, who started beating us and throwing rocks. They did not look at who was in front of them, whether they were old people or women. My head was hit by a rock and my arm was bruised. They kicked and beat us without mercy.”

Nurdinova added that seven people were hospitalised with serious injuries, while several others suffered bone fractures, cuts and cruises.

The protesters inside the Supreme Court believe that the storming of the building was organised by supporters of parliamentary deputies who had allegedly won seats unfairly in the recent elections, and feared that they may soon be stripped of their mandates.

An independent inquiry had been underway to look into the court’s alleged rubberstamping of a number of disputed results. Those who stormed the building this week may have been trying to disrupt this process.

While some of the people who mounted the assault suggested that the action was intended to get the judicial body working again, Kalicha Umuralieva, representative of parliamentary deputy Sharipa Sadybakasova, insisted this was just a ruse.

“The building was seized one and a half months ago – but at that time no one was particularly concerned about resuming the court’s work. This all started only after we created an expert commission to examine the disputed cases,” she said.

According to Umuralieva, the commission was expected to announce its findings on June 1 as to whether there had been violations in disputed cases in five electoral districts during the recent parliamentary ballot – but was unable to do so because of the assault on the Supreme Court.

“The expert commission was not allowed to finish its work. It became clear that these people [who seized the building this week] were organised by the deputies [whose victories we are disputing], and also by Osmonov,” she alleged.

“They are all very afraid of the commission’s findings. If [the deputies] had all got into parliament honestly and if the [Supreme Court] judges had given a fair verdict, the commission would have confirmed this. But they are scared that the commission would reveal the opposite. So they used all their efforts to disrupt its work.”

Meanwhile, parliamentary deputies Melis Eshimkanov and Tairbek Sarpashev have rejected accusations that they organised this week’s storming of the courthouse.

Eshimkanov told IWPR, “These were ordinary people from the Chui Valley whose relatives are in prisons and whose cases are not being examined because of the protesters [inside the Supreme Court]. So they decided to clear the building.”

Sarpashev also claimed that public frustration with the suspension of the court’s work was behind this week’s action, “The rights of thousands of citizens - who are awaiting the verdict from the final authority in the justice system - are being infringed.”

Eshimkanov also claimed that Kyrgyzstan’s new interim authorities had been involved in the original seizure of the building. “It is advantageous for them to have the Supreme Court in their control, for pressure on Osmonov to increase, so they can keep full control of power. This is a continuation of their political games,” he said.

Leila Saralaeva is an independent journalist in Bishkek. Sultan Kanazarov is a journalist with Azattyk, RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz service.