The International League for Human Rights recently released a report detailing government rights abuses in connection with the trial of Feliks Kulov, Kyrgyzstan's leading political opposition figure and a former vice president and minister of state security in Kyrgyzstan. According to OSCE observer reports, opposition leaders, including Kulov and Danyar Usenov, were deprived of legitimate victory in Kyrgyzstan's February parliamentary elections, due to government manipulation. Shortly after announcing that he would be a candidate in the October presidential election, Kulov was detained on March 22. He has been in custody since that time, and is currently being tried in a military court on charges related to abuse of power and forgery. The ILHR report criticized the government's handling of the case, saying that the charges against Kulov "do not in any event appear to form a plausible basis for criminal law claims." The report also asserts that Kulov was detained improperly under Kyrgyz law and was denied proper access to legal representation. "The timing facts and circumstances of the investigation and prosecution
Sign up for Eurasianet's free weekly newsletter. Support Eurasianet: Help keep our journalism open to all, and influenced by none.