ALMATY (Reuters) – Eighteen people were killed and 243 others injured in clashes that erupted last week during anti-government protests in the autonomous republic of Karakalpakstan in northwestern Uzbekistan, local authorities said. the country’s authorities on Monday.
Security forces arrested 516 people during protests against a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at reducing Karakalpakstan’s autonomy, the National Guard’s press service said, adding that many of them had since been released. .
Uzbek President Chavkat Mirzioev gave up this project on Saturday. He also declared a state of emergency for a month in the autonomous republic of some two million inhabitants.
According to official reports, protesters gathered last Friday in Nukus, the capital of Karakalpakstan, and tried to break into government buildings. The attorney general’s office says 18 people died “from serious injuries” sustained during clashes with security forces.
Two opponents in exile told Reuters, based on local sources, that the death toll was much higher. It was not possible to draw up an independent balance sheet.
The opposition in exile demanded from Chavkat Mirzioev the release of the arrested protesters, the resignation of the government of Karakalpakstan and the holding of new elections, as well as an investigation into the actions of the security forces.
Russia, which has close ties with Tashkent, said the incidents were Uzbekistan’s internal affairs, while the European Union called for “an open and independent investigation into the violent events in Karakalpakstan”.
Shavkat Mirzioev’s cabinet said in a statement that the Uzbek president had discussed the issue with EU Council President Charles Michel and that the unrest was sparked by “criminal factions”.
(Report Olzhas Auyezov and Mark Trevelyan in London; French version Augustin Turpin, edited by Camille Raynaud and Sophie Louet)
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