Kyrgyz parliamentarians jailed for attempted seizure of power

Three Kyrgyz members of parliament from the opposition "Ata-Zhurt" (Motherland) party have been convicted of plotting to seize power in a protest last October, local media reported on Saturday.A Bishkek court sentenced Kamchibek Tashiyev and Sadyr Japarov to 18 months in prison, and Talent Mamytov to one year for "attempted seizure of power and public calls for violent overthrow of the constitutional order."A woman supporter of the Ata Zhurt attacked a police officer before the crowd broke through the police cordon and headed to the court building.The parliamentarians were detained for leading a rally in downtown Bishkek to demand nationalization of the Kumtor gold mine on Oct. 3. The protesters attempted to storm the parliament building, but were dispersed by the police.