Ismailbek Sheraliev, the head of the temporary detention center of the Department of Internal Affairs of Jalal-Abad, who was accused of torture and found guilty of abuse of office, applied to the Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan with a motion to review his case. This was reported by the National Center for the Prevention of Torture of the Kyrgyz Republic.
The meeting was scheduled for January 19. However, during the trial, the lawyer of Sheraliev asked to postpone the trial until early February. According to the territorial representative of the National Center for the Prevention of Torture Alisher Ermatov, the reason for the postponement was the unexpected appearance of human rights defenders at the trial for the convict.
“Sheraliev and his lawyer didn’t know that our representatives would be present at the meeting as observers. When they came to the courtroom, Sheraliev was frightened. He asked the lawyer to apply for the postponement of the trial,” Ermatov told ACCA.
In February 2016, the National Center received a message from Nodirbek Abdurakhimov, who was in the temporary detention facility of the Department of Internal Affairs in Jalal-Abad. He stated that he was tortured and humiliated by the Department’s officers, in particular, the head of the temporary detention center, Islam Sheraliev. Abdurakhimov said that the purpose of the systematic beatings was extortion of $ 100,000, as well as obtaining a confession in theft.
Immediately after receiving the message, the territorial representatives began the verification and faced pressure from Sheraliev. In particular, he threatened Alisher Ermatov to disclose video materials, where Abdurakhimov spoke of extortion of $ 1,000 for assistance in a torture case.
“After watching the video, Ermatov advised the head of the temporary detention center, Islambek Sheraliev, to send the video to the Prosecutor’s office for investigation, as he was confident that he was right,” the human rights activists explain.
As a result, the collected materials concerning the use of torture by the head of the temporary detention center against Nodirbek Abdurakhimov were sent to the Prosecutor’s office of Jalal-Abad. Despite the claim of torture, the criminal case was initiated not under Article 305 Part 1 “Torture”, but under Article 304 “Abuse of official powers”.
The first instance court brought in an acquittal. In December 2016, the Regional Court of Jalal-Abad, having overruled the acquittal, found Islambek Sheraliev guilty and sentenced him to two years in a penal colony. By the verdict of the Regional Court of Jalal-Abad, dated June 20, 2017, Sheraliev was also found guilty of committing a crime under Article 304 Part 1, and was fined $3.5 thousand (300,000 KGS).
“The National Center expresses confidence that the conviction of the former head of the temporary detention center of Jalal-Abad will be left without change, and Sheraliev’s application will be rejected,” the National Center expressed its position on the case.
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