The trial of those accused of committing atrocities during Kyrgyzstan’s April uprising has been postponed following a bomb attack outside the venue -- the Bishkek Sports Palace -- yesterday. Even prior to the explosion, the trial had been interrupted by families of the April dead physically attacking the defendants and making threats against defendants, their families, and their lawyers.
Ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and his security chief brother Janysh are accused of organizing the bloodshed on April 7, as they desperately -- and fruitlessly -- attempted to hold onto power. Almost 90 died. But they are being tried in absentia. The former president is ensconced comfortably in Belarus; Minsk has refused several extradition requests. At home, many of the 28 defendants are junior officers who carried out orders that day.
While prosecutors search for a new, safer venue -- and as many decry the slapdash investigation -- it’s worth considering how the local execution of justice is undermining attempts to try Kyrgyzstan's most wanted.
Recently, one of the defense lawyers for seven of the junior security officers described the damage the trial is doing to efforts to bring the Bakiyevs to justice.
Ikramidin Aytkulov, speaking to 24.kg on November 18:
"The new authorities have no interest in searching for the real culprits behind the tragedy on central Ala-Too Square because it would not benefit them -- the authorities -- to have the states where the high-level criminals are hiding extradite them to Kyrgyzstan."
[...]
"Any authorities claiming that their goal is to ensure justice would do everything in strict accordance with the law, so that the respective bodies of those countries where the criminals are hiding would not have the least cause to refuse to extradite them. But what happens here [in Kyrgyzstan]? Here, everything's been turned inside out and upside down and then everyone shrugs and says, 'No one's handing over the Bakiyevs.' And no one ever will hand them over, since the investigation was conducted superficially, sloppily, hastily, in violation of the CPC [Criminal Procedural Code]."
The U.S. Embassy in Bishkek has issued a statement implying that it has concerns about due process -- another sign that Western governments won’t be too keen to extradite anyone back to Kyrgyzstan for trial:
The venue being used for this trial does not suggest the solemnity and seriousness with which such matters should be conducted and the first day's events cast doubt on the fairness of the process.
[…]
Kyrgyz law and international standards of human rights require that defendants be presumed innocent and that the State bring sufficient evidence to show that each defendant is personally guilty of the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.
The U.S. Embassy calls for the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic to take all necessary action to conduct the trial in a fair and transparent manner while ensuring the safety of the defendants and their attorneys. Protection of the rights of all citizens is an important component of a free society.
Bakiyev’s son Maxim, reviled at home where he is accused of extensive financial crimes, must be laughing all the way to his bank in British exile, certain he will never be extradited for trial.
David Trilling is Eurasianet’s managing editor.
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