BAZAR-KORGON, Kyrgyzstan -- Some 100 protesters gathered on October 6 near the Osh-Bishkek highway in southern Kyrgyzstan to demand the release of four police detained in connection with the death of a Russian citizen, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.
The protesters also demand that the police, who are currently in a detention center in the northern town of Sokuluk, should be questioned and tried either in their native town of Bazar-Korgon or in the regional capital, Jalal-Abad.
It was the second public protest by the relatives and supporters of the four policemen this week. On October 3, at least 400 protesters blocked the highway and demanded their release from custody.
The police have been charged in connection with the August death of Usmanjan Kholmirzaev, an ethnic Uzbek and Russian citizen. They are charged with torture, abuse of office, and extortion.
Kholmirzaev died in a Jalal-Abad hospital on August 9, two days after being questioned by Bazar-Korgon district police about the deadly clashes between local Uzbeks and Kyrgyz in June last year.
The autopsy report said Kholmirzaev died of serious injuries, namely fractured ribs and damage to his internal organs.
The protesters say the detained policemen had nothing to do with Kholmirzaev's death. They say the four are "victims of a coverup by local police authorities."
Bazar-Korgon police chief Ernist Moldokeev was fired in August in the wake of Kholmirzaev's death.
Read more in Kyrgyz here