Kyrgyzstan: Police Secure Supreme Court Building

Interim Kyrgyz President and Premier Kurmanbek Bakiev (file photo) Bishkek, 1 June 2005 (RFE/RL) -- Kyrgyz police and members of the National Guard have secured the Supreme Court building in Bishkek after some 300 people stormed the building earlier today to evict a group of protesters who had occupied it since late April.

Protesters inside the building threw Molotov cocktails but could not stop the crowd from entering the building.

Once they got into the building, the crowd threw out of windows the blankets and other objects the protesters inside
had been using. Police said no one was hurt.

The National Guard has now surrounded the building.

The protesters who had been occupying the Supreme Court were demanding the resignation of Supreme Court Chairman Kurmanbek Osmonov and other judges. The protesters were supporters of candidates who had either been disqualified or who had been defeated in parliamentary elections earlier this year. Their appeals had been rejected by Krygyz courts.

Unrest over the elections -- which were declared unfair by international monitors -- led to the eventual ouster of President Askar Akaev.

For more on Kyrgyzstan's March revolution, see Revolution in Kyrgyzstan

(RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service/ITAR-TASS/AFP/Reuters)