Protest in Bishkek against Kyrgyzstan-China agreement

42 protesters were arrested on Wednesday in Bishkek. They demanded that the agreement between Kyrgyzstan and China on disputed border territories should be turned down. The Kyrgyz Interior Minister speaking in the Parliament on Thursday said that people who had protested in front of the Government building were now being kept in the Pervomaysk Regional interior department, in Bishkek. According to the Minister, they were arrested for staging non-sanctioned protests. The Interior Minister said that the court would decide what to do with the protesters. Some parliamentarians approved the law-enforcement's agencies' actions. They think that "the protesters are destabilizing the situation in the capital and prevent the Parliament and the Government from working." The Minister also reported that up to 3,500 were still protesting in the south of the republic. The protesters blocked the only motorway that linked Bishkek and the Southern regions of the republic. However, according to the Interior Minister, the region situation is calm. However, the stand off between the authorities and the protesters has been lasting for five days in the Jalal-Abad region of Kyrgyzstan. Information suggests that the number of protesters is about 6,500 people. The protesters blocking the strategic motorway between Bishkek and Osh are demanding the rejection of the agreement between Kyrgyzstan and China on disputed border territories. The agreement transferred to China about 95,000 hectares of disputed lands, that belong to Kyrgyzstan, according to the protesters.