The Judicial Panel for Criminal Cases and Administrative Offenses of the Supreme Court considered the measure of restraint to the ex-mayor of Bishkek Kubanychbek Kulmatov.
During the court hearing, the lawyer of the former mayor, Sergei Slesarev, said that a preventive measure in the form of house arrest, release on bail could be applied to him. According to the lawyer, this is an adequate sanction for the person who has done a lot for the country.
«The official response of the Russian Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan says that Kubanychbek Kulmatov does not have Russian citizenship. Hence, the report of the Corruption Control Service is false. The investigation alleges that he can hide with this passport. I ask to cancel the decision of the district court and the ruling of the city court to extend the preventive measure to Kubanychbek Kulmatov,» said Sergei Slesarev.
Leaving the consultation room, the judges issued a ruling according to which Kubanychbek Kulmatov would remain in custody until the end of the investigation.
The ex-mayor was arrested and placed in the pretrial detention center of the State Committee for National Security on June 5 on corruption charges. According to the investigation, in 2014, he, being the mayor of Bishkek, illegally used $ 2 million grant provided by TBEA in the framework of modernization of Bishkek HPP for the construction of two schools. Kubanychbek Kulmatov allegedly redirected funds from the government to the Bishkek City Administration under the pretext of building a school in Kalys-Ordo residential area. On June 14, another criminal case was initiated against the former mayor under the Articles «Counterfeiting, manufacture, sale or use of forged documents, state awards, stamps, seals, forms» and «Illegal crossing of the state border» of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic.
