Trial of one of the most high-profile cases on illegal release of a kingpin Aziz Batukaev will start today in the Pervomaisky District Court of Bishkek. The main defendant in the criminal case is the former president of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev.
Aziz Batukaev left the country in April 2013. Doctors then diagnosed him with acute leukemia. He was early released from a penal colony in Naryn, where he was serving his sentence, and left for his historical homeland - Grozny (Chechnya). A check was immediately ordered on the fact, but law enforcement bodies and the prosecutor’s office did not find any violations.
Investigation into the unlawful release of the crime boss resumed in January 2019. It was sent to court in October.
At least 19 people are defendants in the case. These are doctors and laboratory assistants ,who diagnosed the convict, representatives of the State Penitentiary Service and other senior officials, including the former head of state Almazbek Atambayev.
Earlier it was reported that 14 defendants could get off with a fine - they signed a cooperation agreement with the investigation. Each of them was detained, and later placed under house arrest.
The former president was detained on August 8 after storm of his house in Koi-Tash village. He was charged under several articles of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic: corruption, money laundering, mass riots, murder and others.
It was noted that the case would be considered behind closed doors. Almazbek Atambayev refuses to participate in the trial. He did not appear at a preliminary hearing - he refused to leave the cell of a pre-trial detention center of the State Committee for National Security. Lawyers believe that he can be brought to court by force.
