Azimjan Askarov Case: the decision of the Supreme Court is nowhere near the implementation of the UN decision

On July 11 and12, 2016, the Kyrgyzstan Supreme Court heard the appeal that had been filed by thelawyers of Mr. Azimjan Askarov under Article 41.2 of the Constitution,which obliges Kyrgyzstan to restore human rights in the event thatinternational bodies confirm a violation. Both hearings were attended by lawyerKirill Koroteev, from the Human Rights Centre "Memorial" (Russia),within the framework of a trial observation mandated by the Observatory.

“The purpose of this trial before the Supreme Court was toreconsider the case of Azimjan Askarov in the light of the CCPR Views, whichrequested his release in the first place, and his retrial if necessary”, said KirillKoroteev, commenting on the decision.

“However, sending the case to a regional court means thatthe conviction and life sentence handed down by the Bazar Kurgan District Courtin 2010 remain intact, and that Mr. Askarov remains in detention on the basisof the district court judgment. This is how the Supreme Court avoided even todiscuss the possibility of his release, which is nowhere near theimplementation of the CCPR Views”, he added,highlighting that it is likely that the Chuy Regional Court will not evenexamine evidence anew.

According toour observer, the trial was also marred by a number of procedural irregularities.A violation of the principles of equality of arms was notably reported in themorning of July 12, when a group of ethnic Kyrgyz women and men from southernKyrgyzstan - some of whom appeared before the court with the formal “victim”status of the 2010 crimes imputed to Mr. Askarov - were invited by the PresidingJudge to present their views, while the attempts of Mr. Askarov's lawyers tosecure his attendance were repeatedly ignored. Besides, the court session hadto be interrupted when the above-mentioned victims aggressively shouted at thebench and at Mr. Askarov's lawyers, and after some of them even attempted tophysically assault the lawyers.

The Observatory deplores the decision of the Supreme Court ofKyrgyzstan as well as the series of irregularities noted during the trial, andcalls upon the Kyrgyz authorities to immediately release Mr. Azimjan Askarov asrequested by the CCPR, as well as to put an end to any kind of harassmentagainst the latter and more generally against all human rights defenders in thecountry.

The Observatoryrecalls that Mr. Azimjan Askarov founded the group Vozduh (Air) in 2002 inBazar Kurgan, Jalalabad Oblast, in the South of the country to investigatepolice brutality and the conditions of Kyrgyz prisons. On several occasions,Azimjan Askarov was successful in fighting impunity in cases involving thelocal police. As a result, several police officials were not appreciative ofhis work. During the ethnic clashes of June 2010 in southern Kyrgyzstan, hedocumented the violence in Bazar Kurgan. Azimjan Askarov has repeatedly claimedhis innocence, providing proof that he was not even present at the crimescene. Following a trial denounced by several international human rights groupsfor irregularities, including alleged torture and the courtroom intimidation ofwitnesses by police and of lawyers by the audience, Mr. Askarov was handed downa life sentence by the Bazar Kurgan District Court in 2010.

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (theObservatory) was created in 1997 by FIDH and the World Organisation AgainstTorture (OMCT). The objective of this programme is to intervene to preventor remedy situations of repression against human rights defenders.

For moreinformation, please contact:
• FIDH: Arthur Manet / Audrey Couprie: + 33143552518
• OMCT: Delphine Reculeau: +41228094939