The Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan, having considered an appeal of the convicted, upheld the sentence passed by lower court to activist Zarina Torokulova. Activist’s lawyer Akmat Alagushev reported.
According to him, the charges against his client were not proven either during the investigation or in court, despite this, the court found her guilty.
By the verdict of the Pervomaisky District Court of Bishkek of January 16, the activist was found guilty of committing a crime under Part 3 of Article 278 «Calls for active disobedience to the legal demands of government officials and for mass riots, as well as calls for violence against citizens» of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic.
Zarina Torokulova was sentenced to five years in prison with probation supervision for three years.
The appeal was submitted by the prosecutor’s office. The defense did not appeal the verdict.
«As soon as we receive the verdict in our hands, we will appeal it to the Supreme Court through the cassation procedure,» Akmat Alagushev previously said.
Earlier, the prosecutors noted that the activist shared two messages from Umai Aruu Facebook account. One of them is «Japarov mafia», and the other is «Organize an online rally» — a repost of a video by journalist Olzhobai Shakir. He was detained on August 23, 2023 by officers of the State Committee for National Security, accusing him of calls for active disobedience to law enforcement officers, mass riots and an attempt to seize power.
Earlier, Olzhobai Shakir called on citizens to participate in a rally. He intended to organize a protest on August 31. The journalist opposed the transfer of four resorts in Issyk-Kul region to Uzbekistan.
