[JURIST] Interim Kyrgyz leader Roza Otunbayeva said Wednesday that ousted president Kurmanbek Bakiyev should stand trial for the violent protests that erupted in Kyrgyzstan last week. The protests, prompted in part by a drastic increase in utility costs, led to at least 84 deaths and many more injuries. It is not yet clear whether the interim government will seek to have Bakiyev arrested or prosecuted. While Bakiyev has not formally announced whether he will resign, he has indicated that he is willing to cooperate with the interim government to bring a peaceful resolution to the current political tensions.
On Tuesday, Kyrgyzstan’s interim government announced that the country’s highest court will be suspended until a permanent government is established. Roza Otunbayeva launched the interim government last week after the violent protests forced Bakiyev to flee the capital. The protests came just one week after UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Kyrgyzstan to protect all forms of human rights, including “free speech and freedom of the media.” Ban depicted some recent events in Kyrgyzstan as “troubling,” including the shutdown of an opposition newspaper, a police raid on a local television station that resulted in the station being taken off the air, and the confiscation of computers from a video web portal based on allegations of pirated software use.