Large-scale riots have broken out in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, over what human rights groups claim are increasingly repressive policies of the president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev.  One government minister has been killed, and the deputy prime minister has been taken hostage in a series of protests which started when a group of protestors stormed government offices in the town of of Talas on Tuesday. Since he took office in 2005, Bakiyev has cracked down on opposition parties and the independent media. Last Wednesday, a court suspended the newspaper Forum, on the basis that an article contained “appeals to forcibly overthrow the constitutional order”. On Thursday, financial police raided the Bishkek headquarters of the independent Web-based television outlet Stan TV, confiscating all computer equipment. The clampdown follows suspensions of two other newspapers Achyk Sayasat and Nazar on 18 March. All thee had reported on a March opposition convention, at which representatives demanded President Bakiyev dismiss his relatives from government positions, and that the government lower electricity and heating costs.

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Tags: Kyrgyzstan, media freedom, press freedom, protests

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