Kyrgyzstan: human rights activist Azimzhan Askarov dies in prison
Life-sentenced human rights activist Azimzhan Askarov died in correctional colony No. 47, where he was taken for a medical check. The lawyer of the human rights activist Valerian Vakhitov told ACCA about this.
According to the lawyer, he is currently preparing a request to the State Penitentiary Service to obtain an opinion on Askarov’s death to establish the reasons.
“I visited Askarov on 22 July. It was evident that he was in serious condition. He could not speak normally, gasped for breath, could barely walk. I immediately started to show my concern. But no one here reacts to this. When employees of the Ombudsman Institute visited him, they gave a conclusion that he was totally fine. How it was possible not to see that Askarov was sick, I do not understand, ”- resents the lawyer.
Earlier ACCA posted that Azimzhan Askarov had been sick for more than 10 days. According to the head of the medical unit of correctional colony No. 19 Kurmanaliev, where the human rights activist was kept, the facility did not have enough medicines and the necessary equipment to treat Askarov.
Human rights defender Azimzhan Askarov was detained on June 15, 2010, during the conflict in southern Kyrgyzstan. He was accused of organizing mass riots, inciting ethnic hatred, and complicity in the murder of a policeman. On September 15 of the same year, Askarov was sentenced to life imprisonment. All attempts of international human rights organizations and lawyers to reconsider Askarov’s case were unsuccessful.
