BISHKEK: Police in Kyrgyzstan on Sunday detained dozens of protesters — most of them women — at a rally to mark International Women’s Day after masked men attacked them and tore up their placards.

A correspondent saw dozens of women detained and placed in police vehicles in the centre of the capital Bishkek where women’s groups had begun to rally against gender-based violence.

The detentions came after the men wearing masks and pointed national hats attacked the crowd, tearing up their posters, popping balloons with toy pistols and throwing eggs at the women before fleeing the scene.

Erlan Atantayev, deputy head of the Sverdlovsky police department where the women were taken, said the protesters had been detained for their own safety and because police had not been warned about the rally.

“Clashes began between the demonstrators and men wearing the face masks,” said Atantayev. “We detained (the women) for violation of public order.”

Atantayev later said that all the demonstrators were released within hours of detention but added that some could face fines for resisting police.

Police also detained three male assailants but did not chase those who ran away.

Journalist Nurjamal Djanibekova said one of the attackers broke her telephone to stop her from filming the attack and that another journalist was knocked down.

Activist Zhanna Arayeva said among those detained were anti-corruption campaigner Dinara Oshurakhunova and singer Zere Asylbek whose feminist anthem “Kyz” earned her death threats from conservatives.

A British man was also briefly held, Arayeva said.

A court in Kyrgyzstan last week banned rallies in the centre of Bishkek until July 1 in response to a request by the city administration.

But authorities later withdrew the request that came at the beginning of the country’s traditional protest season and the court lifted the ban.

Atantayev said he was unaware of the lifting of the ban, which officials had initially said was necessary to preserve public order and counter the threat of the novel coronavirus. Kyrgyzstan has no confirmed case of the virus.

Citing multiple cases of forced marriage and domestic violence, activists say women’s rights are deteriorating in the former Soviet republic of six million amid a resurgence of right-wing ideology.

Last year a March 8 demonstration angered conservative groups, who have grown in strength in recent years and complain the demonstrations promote gay rights.

Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia’s most politically volatile country, is notorious for the illegal practice of bride kidnapping.

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2020