URGENT: Protesters in Bishkek break into government building again

BISHKEK, June 17 (RIA Novosti, Yulia Orlova) - Protesters in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, broke into the government building again, throwing stones at police officers. Police officers had to make shots in the air to calm the protesters who stopped throwing stones at that point. Smoke can be seen near the building - the police used smoke cartridges to push away the crowd. On Friday, about 200 people seized the building of the Kyrgyz government in protest against excluding Baryktabasov from the presidential elections. They later left the building. Then about 3,000 of Baryktabasov's supporters gathered in front of the government building. According to witnesses, nothing has been destroyed in the building, and the windows remained intact.

The Central Election Commission of Kyrgyzstan excluded Baryktabasov from the presidential race for having a dual citizenship - Kyrgyz and Kazakh.