After an explosive week of court hearings, in which former head of Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security, Kamchybek Tashiev, got into a shouting match with a witness and a video of his apparent interrogation leaked, the case has – once again – been closed to public scrutiny.
On June 22, prosecutors filed a motion to close the trial of a number of prominent politicians and former government officials charged with attempting to stage a coup and abuse of office, allegedly in relation to the so-called “Letter of 75.”
Besides Tashiev, former Prosecutor General Kurmankul Zulushev, former Speaker of the Zhogorku Kenesh Nurlanbek Turgunbek uulu, former Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Kursan Asanov, former Ambassador to Uzbekistan Emilbek Uzakbaev, former General Prosecutor and MP Kurmankul Zulushev, and others have been charged.
Not all of the defendants are in custody. Tashiev, Turgunbek uulu, and Zulushev – all charged with the more serious accusation of plotting a coup in addition to abuse of office – are free on bail. The other defendants, charged with abuse of office only, are in custody.
The case was initially classified by the court, but opened to the public on June 15 at the request of the defendants – including Tashiev.
