Kyrgyzstan: Azimzhan Askarov’s right to review conditions of detention has been violated
The lawyer of the human rights activist Valerian Vakhitov intends to draw the attention of the executive body to the violation of the prisoner rights and to achieve relaxed conditions for Askarov.
According to lawyer, Article 130 of the Criminal Executive Code of Kyrgyzstan states that the conditions of prisoners’ detention, in case of good behavior, should be reviewed every five years. Askarov is prisoned for 10 years now but he still serves his sentence in strict conditions.
“Askarov’s wife addressed to me. She wanted to meet her husband. However, in penal colony No. 19, where he is, she was told that the date limit has been reached, since Azimzhan Askarov is being held in strict conditions of serving his sentence. She asked me to do something with it. I studied the issue and found out that the conditions of his detention should have been reviewed twice by now. First to ordinary, then to relaxed ones,” Vakhitov said to ACCA.
The lawyer noted that he intends to send a letter to the State Service for Execution of Punishment with a request for review.
“I’ve already sent a corresponding letter to the human rights organization “Ediniy Mir” and they agreed to support my appeal,” Valerian Vakhitov added.
Besides, on May 13, the Supreme Court put an end to the case of Azimzhan Askarov, refusing to satisfy the complaints of lawyers to review the case due to newly discovered circumstances.
It bears reminding that Azimzhan Askarov is accused of inciting ethnic hatred and killing a policeman during the June events in 2010 that took place in southern Kyrgyzstan. He was found guilty under the article “Сomplicity in the murder” of the Criminal Code of Kyrgyzstan and sentenced to life imprisonment.
