Sentenced to life in prison Azimzhan Askarov, who died behind bars, will be buried in Uzbekistan. Tolekan Ismailova, head of the human rights organization Bir Duino — Kyrgyzstan, told the journalists.
The autopsy results will be announced today, on July 27. The widow of Azimzhan Askarov, Khadicha, said that she intends to fulfill her husband’s wish and bury him in Uzbekistan.
Tolekan Ismailova said that the colleagues of the deceased human rights activist will contact the Uzbek Embassy in Kyrgyzstan with a request to provide assistance in organizational matters.
The head of Bir Duino — Kyrgyzstan intends to sue the Government in connection with the death of the human rights defender in prison, noting that there are many prisoners in Kyrgyzstan’s prisons serving sentences without proof of guilt.
Azimzhan Askarov died in the hospital of the penal colony No. 47 on July 25.
Azimzhan Askarov was accused of inciting ethnic hatred and murder of a policeman during the June events in the south of the republic in 2010. In 2016, the UN Human Rights Committee recognized the human rights defender as a victim of torture, and all court decisions in his criminal case — unjust and recommended to release him. However, Kyrgyzstan did not follow these recommendations.
