Family of Azimzhan Askarov does not believe the government of Kyrgyzstan
The court upheld a life sentence for the imprisonment of human rights activist Azimzhan Askarov.
Chui regional court since July 8 of the current year, by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Kyrgyz Republic, proceeded to the trial of Azimzhan Askarov, accused of inciting ethnic hatred and killing a policeman during the June events in the South of the Republic in 2010.
The reason for the new hearings was the newly discovered circumstances of the case. In particular, the lawyer of Askarov asked the court to reduce the term of imprisonment in connection with the amendments to the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes of Kyrgyzstan that came into force.
His family, friends and simply compassionate people, who followed the fate of the human rights activist, had hope of a review of the case, and as a result of a change in the sentence. However, on July 30, it became known that the court decided to leave it unchanged.
Themis officers explained their decision as follows: “Azimzhan Askarov is accused of organizing the murder of a police officer, and under the new Criminal Code this crime provides for life imprisonment.”
The relatives of Azimzhan Askarov disagree with the court decision. In an interview with ACCA, his wife said that she would continue to seek justice in the courts.
“I do not believe the judges and authorities. I see what is happening in our country. Laws either do not work at all, or work to please those in power. The whole world knows that my husband is not guilty, and those who put him in prison also know this very well. Our family regularly receives letters from different countries: Germany, Japan, England, Sweden. All of them with words of encouragement. They write that justice will prevail. I also believe, so I will continue to defend him in the courts and demand a legal solution for him – discharge,” Khadicha Askarova said.
It will be recalled that Azimzhan Askarov was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2011 by the court of Jalal-Abad region. Against the verdict, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International organizations, ombudsman Tursunbek Akun and some human rights defenders spoke out. Today, Azimzhan Askarov has been sentenced to life imprisonment by all judicial instances of Kyrgyzstan.
