Ex-Kyrgyz President Atambayev given 11-year sentence over illegal release of crime lord
BISHKEK. June 23 (Interfax) - The Bishkek Pervomaisky District Court has sentenced former Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev to 11 years and two months in custody and confiscation of property over the illegal release of crime lord Aziz Batukayev, an Interfax correspondent reported from the courtroom on Tuesday.
"The court found Almazbek Atambayev guilty of organizing corruption and sentenced him to 11 years and two months in custody, deprivation of state awards, and property confiscation," Judge Elimbek Kaipov said as he read out the sentence.
The court deprived Atambayev of state titles and awards, namely the Order of Danaker (Peacemaker), the Manas Order of the 2nd Degree, the Dank (Glory) Medal, and a presidential watch with his name engraved on it.
The confiscated property includes five vehicles, plots of land in the Chui and Issyk-Kul regions of Kyrgyzstan, a number of companies, Media Forum, Forum, Avtomash, and April television channel, as well as securities and accounts in a number of Kyrgyz banks.
The defense will discuss the possibility of appealing the sentence with Atambayev, the former president's lawyer Sergei Slesarev told journalists.
"An appeal is possible. We may appeal the procedure, but first I will have to discuss the situation with Almazbek Atambayev. Given the current state of affairs, this is a mere formality," Slesarev said.
"A guilty verdict on Almazbek Atambayev has been executed. They did their best to pass a loyalist verdict, although none was guilty. The court was tasked with pronouncing a guilty verdict, and this task was fulfilled not even by the court, but by officials, who had no such powers," he said.
The Pervomaisky District Court in Bishkek found former Kyrgyz Prosecutor General Indira Joldubayeva guilty, sentenced her to a fine of 5 million som ($66,600), and deprived her of the rank of state counselor 3rd class and of the title of merited jurist.
Additionally, the court found guilty former advisor to the chairman of the State Penitentiary Service Kalybek Kachkynaliyev and sentenced him to two years in custody. Kachkynaliyev was released from custody in the courtroom, as he has now fully served his time. The court did not sentence Academy member Abdukhalim Raimzhanov, due to the statute of limitations.
In all, 19 ex-officials were suspected of corruption in the Batukayev case. Fourteen agreed to cooperate with the investigation.
Batukayev was serving a long prison term, but was released in 2013, due to poor health, and he then went to Russia's internal republic of Chechnya. A parliamentary commission set up in 2013 to investigate his early release found that his release had been petitioned for by a former Kyrgyz ombudsman, Tursunbek Akun, and that high-ranking government members and penitentiary officials were also involved. The investigation was then dropped.
In 2019, the Kyrgyz Interior Ministry reopened the case. Several arrests were made, including of former Deputy Prime Minister Shamil Atakhanov, ex-Health Minister Dinara Saginbayeva, and several other Health Ministry officials, who investigators believe deliberately diagnosed Batukayev with a serious illness in order to provide him with the grounds for an early release.
Atambayev was arrested in connection with the case and placed in the custody of the National Security Committee on August 8 of last year. Before that, he was being treated as a witness, but refused to show up for questioning.
