The State Committee for National Security (SCNS) of the Kyrgyz Republic issued a message about the extradition of journalist Bobomurod Abdullayev to the Uzbek side. The ministry claims that the requested party has provided guarantees that it will not torture the journalist.
The press release of the State Committee for National Security clarifies that on August 22, 2020, in compliance with the norms stipulated by the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic and interstate agreements, regulating the procedure for the extradition of citizens of foreign states for criminal prosecution, based on a decision on extradition that came into force, Bobomurod Abdullayev was handed over to the Uzbek side.
“At the same time, the competent authorities of the requesting party gave guarantees to provide Abdullayev with all the opportunities for defense, including legal assistance from lawyers, not to use torture, cruel and inhuman treatment or punishment, as well as guarantees to provide adequate medical assistance if necessary,” they emphasize at the State Committee.
Timur Karabaev, one of Bobomurod Abdullayev’s lawyers, told ACCA that the defenders were not ready for this turn of events.
“We were preparing to file an appeal, hoping for the decency of the employees of the SCNS and the General Prosecutor’s Office. We contacted the State Committee for National Security every day and asked about the location of our client. We were assured that he was in jail, but due to the quarantine, we could not visit him. And now it became known that he was not only taken out, but already transferred to the Uzbek side. It turns out that while we were counting on an appeal, the Prosecutor General’s Office was preparing documents for the extradition of the journalist, thereby depriving him of the opportunity to appeal against their decision in the courts, that is, his right to judicial protection and meetings with a lawyer, ”the lawyer said.
According to the lawyer, the actions of the state have grossly violated inalienable human rights, which apply to both citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic and foreigners.
“I think that yesterday he was taken out to the territory adjacent to Uzbekistan, and today it has already been transferred to the special services of Uzbekistan. Then they took him to Tashkent via an internal flight. We began to suspect something even yesterday, when information appeared that his mother was buying a ticket supposedly to meet her son at the Tashkent airport. We started sounding the alarm, but, unfortunately, our suspicions were confirmed, ”Karabaev said.
He also criticized the position of the Kyrgyz ombudsman institution on the Bobomurod Abdullayev case.
“The representative of the Ombudsman in an interview with the media said that there are no violations in connection with the extradition of our client to Uzbekistan, but I do not agree. The problem is that the request from Uzbekistan was received based on the Minsk Convention on Legal Assistance in Family, Civil and Criminal Matters. But Uzbekistan referred to it when it’s legal basis was terminated for the Uzbek side, ”the lawyer explained his point of view.
He stressed that in the future, Abdullayev’s defenders intend to raise the issue of taking appropriate procedural measures against the employees of the SCNS and the General Prosecutor’s Office, and also file a complaint with the UN special procedures.
“There are special committees that consider complaints of this kind regarding government actions. I believe that given the available facts, the conclusion of these committees will be very impartial for Kyrgyzstan, ”the lawyer concluded.
As a reminder, independent Uzbek journalist Bobomurod Abdullayev was detained in one of the Bishkek cafes on August 9 by officers of the Kyrgyz special services at the request of the Uzbek authorities. The next day, the Pervomaisky District Court of Bishkek detained him in the SCNS pretrial detention center until September 8, 2020.
The journalist is charged under the articles Encroachment on the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan and Encroachment on the Constitutional System of the Republic of Uzbekistan, that is, under articles that do not exist in the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic.
After the arrest, the journalist’s lawyers several times reported to the media that they were not allowed to see their client under various pretexts, and they also refused to hand over documents to him to apply for a political refugee status.
In connection with the detention of Abdullayev, the international human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued an appeal to the Kyrgyz authorities not to extradite the journalist to Tashkent.
According to the organization’s statement, Bobomurod Abdullayev was the special services of the Kyrgyz Republic at a time when Reporters Without Borders was trying to help him safely get to Germany. Abdullaev is an RSF Emergency Fellow, but due to his arrest, he was unable to leave for Germany and begin his planned studies.
Besides, organizations such as Amnesty International, Association for Human Rights in Central Asia (AHRCA), Civil Rights Defenders, International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR), Freedom House, Freedom Now and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC) have approached the Kyrgyz authorities demanding the release of the Uzbek journalist. In a joint statement of these organizations, it was noted that the charges against Bobomurod Abdullayev were fabricated, and if he was forcibly returned to Uzbekistan, he could face torture and imprisonment for up to 20 years.
Also, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists also warned official Bishkek of the consequences of extraditing the independent journalist to Uzbekistan, where he had already been tortured by local security services.
Bobomurod Abdullayev is suspected of authorship of articles under the opposition pseudonym “Kora Mergan” (“Black Shooter”). Abdullaev himself denies this.
Previously, he worked under a pseudonym – for over 13 years he wrote articles as “Usman Khaknazarov”, was the author of high-profile materials about corruption.
He was detained for journalism in 2017 in Uzbekistan and was released in the courtroom, sentenced to forced labor, and withholding 20% of his salary.
Later he flew to Berlin, and this year he arrived in Bishkek at AUCA, but after that, he could not fly back – Kyrgyzstan closed the borders due to the pandemic.
Note that it is not the first time that Kyrgyzstan extradites independent journalists to neighboring countries. Two years ago, in 2018, the Kazakh journalist Murat Tungishbaev, who had lived in Bishkek for about four years, was detained by the special services, and a few weeks later he was extradited to Kazakhstan. At home country, Tungishbaev was suspected of participating in the activities of the unregistered movement Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan, which was recognized by the court as “extremist.”
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