Police used tear gas and stun grenades last Thursday against opposition supporters gathered in front of the government building in the Kyrgyz capital. Members of the United Front and For Reforms movements had been rallying in central Bishkek for nine days demanding that a new Constitution reducing presidential powers be adopted and early elections called.
"The authorities should not celebrate their victory over the people," said a leader of For Reforms movement and parliament member Temir Sariyev, adding that if the government did not come to the right conclusions and drastically change its policy "it could face serious problems again as early as this year's fall."
Another opposition leader, ex-speaker of the Kyrgyz parliament Omurbek Tekebayev said that the country's leadership was "on a high over defeating its own people, but it was the wrong assumption."
"They [the authorities] have proven that all they have is physical force, but in any case they have exhausted all their resources, political and moral," he said.
"Unfortunately, it is obvious that the only way to force the country's leadership to start [political] reforms is to conduct rallies, and that is what both the opposition supporters and common citizens will be doing, apparently, for a long time," Tekebayev said.
Kyrgyz Prosecutor General's Office launched a criminal investigation into the mass public disturbances in the capital last week.
Kyrgyz opposition leaders, except parliamentary members, were summoned to the National Security Committee for questioning in the probe.
Police also searched the offices of the opposition United Front movement in the Kyrgyz capital and seized all issues of major opposition newspapers that covered the clashes in the capital.
Opposition leaders denied responsibility for the events that took place on the central square in the capital, saying the crowd had refused to obey their orders.
Felix Kulov, a former Prime Minister and current leader of radical opposition, laid the blame on Kyrgyz authorities for the consequences of dispersing the protesters and accused "the provocateurs, who stayed at the government building," and started the disorder.
Meanwhile, Bishkek city authorities are planning to file a lawsuit against the opposition for compensation for damage to the city as a result of the public disturbances, which they estimate at about $26,000.
"If they, [the participants of the rally] refuse to compensate the material damages, we will sue them," a city official said Monday.
