At least 968 citizens of Kyrgyzstan are serving their sentences in Russian prisons. The head of the Department of International Legal Cooperation of the Prosecutor General’s Office, Asilbek Akmatov, said at a meeting of the Committee on Constitutional Legislation, State Structure, Judicial, Legal Issues and Regulations of the Parliament.
The committee is considering a draft agreement on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters between Kyrgyzstan and Saudi Arabia. The deputies, having listened to the report on the document, drew attention to the same issue with Russia.
«You say that there are no citizens of Kyrgyzstan in the prisons of Saudi Arabia and there are no citizens of Saudi Arabia in places of detention in the Kyrgyz Republic. You want to provide the procedure for the future to help the Kyrgyz people if they violate the order during the pilgrimage. This is good. But our most important problem is our compatriots in Russia. We need to better work out the issue of extradition from the Russian Federation,» said Zhanar Akayev, deputy from Alliance faction.
According to him, applications for the transfer of convicted Kyrgyzstanis have been lying in the Russian Ministry of Justice for years.
«I know three cases. Ten months ago, a decision was made on them. One woman is in critical condition. The interpreter Saltanat Metieva tries to help her, but she has no authority. You must give information to compatriots in the Russian Federation. The translation is free. To write a statement, you do not need to come to Kyrgyzstan and write a statement to the Prosecutor General’s Office. Can you write from there? Zhanar Akaev tried to clarify.
Asilbek Akmatov said that in matters of extradition of prisoners, the competent authorities from Kyrgyzstan are the Prosecutor General’s Office, and from the Russian side — the Ministry of Justice.
«The basis for the transfer may be a statement from the convict or from his close relatives. They can submit it electronically through our website. We send the question to the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation. Based on this, they give us procedural documents, after which we put forward a proposal to the Supreme Court so that the convict undergoes punishment in the Kyrgyz Republic. After that, a trial is held with the participation of the convict,» he informed.
Asilbek Akmatov noted: at the same time, Kyrgyzstan gives guarantees that the convict will serve the sentence in accordance with the decision after the transfer. Transportation of the convict is carried out through Kazakhstan or direct flights.
According to the official, there are no restrictions for transfer of convicted citizens of Kyrgyzstan in Russia based on the severity of the crime.
