Paris-Geneva, January 24, 2017 - Today,
the Chuy Regional Court of Kyrgyzstan upheld the life sentence against human
rights defender Azimjan Askarov, in blatant violation of a decision issued by a
United Nations body, requesting his release and the quashing of his conviction.
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (a FIDH-OMCT
partnership) denounces Kyrgyzstan's failure to comply with the UN decision -
and calls for Mr. Askarov's immediate and unconditional release.

This morning, the Court confirmed
the original verdict of 2010, finding Mr. Azimjan
Askarov, an ethnic Uzbek, founder of the human rights NGO Vozduh (Air), guilty
of complicity in the murder of a policeman,
inciting violence and mass disorder. As the initial trial was marred by
allegations of torture, intimidation, due process violations and violations of
the right to a fair trial, in March 2016, the UN Human Rights Committee (CCPR)
ordered the quashing of Mr. Askarov’s conviction as well as his release on the
grounds that his defence was obstructed during the judicial process, through
the prevention of the examination of witnesses on his behalf, obstacles posed
on his lawyer from attending the first hearing, and the little time allocated
for the preparation of his defence. During the appeal retrial hearings, which
took place from October 4, 2016 to January 24, 2017, six other co-accused
admitted having been tortured, ill-treated and threatened with further violence
in case they did not testify against the defendant.
“This
verdict is clearly politically motivated. Azimjan Askarov should never have
been imprisoned in the first place, and every day of his sentence is
Kyrgyzstan's defiance of international human rights law and UN institutions”,
said lawyer Kirill Koroteev, who attended several hearings of the retrial on
behalf of the Observatory.
Prior to his
arrest in June 2010, Mr. Azimjan Askarov was investigating police brutality as
well as detention conditions in Kyrgyz prisons. He notably documented violence
in Bazar Korgon during ethnic clashes that sparked in June 2010 in southern Kyrgyzstan,
resulting in the death of nearly 500 Uzbeks and the displacement of hundreds of
thousands. Mr. Askarov and his lawyers have
repeatedly claimed the innocence of the defendant, providing
proof that he was not even present at the crime scene.
Throughout the new appeal re-trial, the principle of equality of arms
was once again blatantly violated: Mr. Askarov was not released as requested in
the UN decision, placed in a metal cage during all hearings and forced to wear
a jacket bearing the inscription "Life imprisonment", in breach of
the principle of presumption of innocence. In addition, his lawyers and
supporters were intimidated and slandered throughout the process. Three of the
six main prosecution witnesses questioned on October 11, 2016 - all former
police officers present at the scene of the accident - failed to remember
whether Mr. Azimjan Askarov was among the crowd when it attacked the police
officer. The other three witnesses could not remember neither how the latter
looked that day, nor how he would have incited the crowd to attack policemen.
Finally, the failure by the court to investigate claims of torture and pressure
exerted on defence witnesses also demonstrated that the appeal re-trial fell
short of recognised fair trial standards.
At the normative level, this trial has led to the adoption of
constitutional amendments by referendum on December 11, 2016, resulting in the
effective repeal of Article 41.2 of the Constitution. This Article provided
that the finding by an international human rights body of a violation of
international treaties ratified by Kyrgyzstan shall be considered as “new
circumstances” that warrant the reopening of criminal proceedings. On April 27,
2016, in the aftermath of the UN CCPR decision, Mr. Askarov had filed an appeal
to review his conviction before the Supreme Court on the basis of that Article.
The Observatory will publish a trial observation report in the coming
weeks, shedding light on fair trial violations that took place during the
proceedings before the Chuy Regional Court, in breach of Kyrgyzstan’s international human rights commitments.
The
Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) was
created in 1997 by FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). The
objective of this programme is to prevent or remedy situations of repression
against human rights defenders. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented by
international civil society.
For
more information, please contact:
•
FIDH: Arthur Manet / Audrey Couprie: +33143552518
•
OMCT: Delphine Reculeau: +41228094939
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