BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- A trial for former Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and his supporters was postponed after demonstrators stormed the court, a judge said Wednesday.
Bakiyev is on trial in absentia for his alleged role in inciting unrest in an April coup that left 90 dead and hundreds injured.
More than two dozen of his supporters are charged with carrying out federal orders to open fire on opposition forces that toppled the Bakiyev government.
The defense team asked for a 40-day delay to prepare, though prosecutors dismissed their plea. A judge postponed the trial until Thursday after hundreds of victims and relatives of those killed in the April coup stormed the court, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports.
The interim government has fought for control since the April coup. Hundreds were killed during summer violence between Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbeks in the southern regions of Osh and Jalal Abad.
The country elected a new Parliament in October, though none of the five parties that emerged victorious had enough votes to gain a majority. Interim President Roza Otunbayeva could dissolve the new Parliament if it fails to form a coalition government and elect new leaders, RFE/RL adds.
Bakiyev fled his stronghold in southern Kyrgyzstan to Belarus after the April coup.
