A court in Kyrgyzstan has delivered its verdict in the so-called "case of the 75," which involves former chairman of the State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan Kamchybek Tashiev, according to infohub.kz.
As reported by NUR.KZ, citing 24.kg, the Bishkek City Court heard the case of the "letter of the 75" behind closed doors, despite earlier statements that media representatives would be granted access to the courtroom.
The court's decision following the hearing was announced by lawyer Latypbek Nuralimov. According to him, the case was reclassified from Article 326, "Forcible Seizure of Power," of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic to Article 195, "Obstruction of the Exercise of Electoral Rights."
"All defendants were sentenced to four years of imprisonment, with two years of probationary supervision applied," the lawyer said.
It is noted that this article of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic does not provide for confiscation of property, which had been part of the district court's earlier verdict.
Recall that a Bishkek court previously found former State Committee for National Security chief Kamchybek Tashiev guilty in the "letter of the 75" case. He was sentenced to four years of imprisonment with confiscation of property, but was released from serving the sentence with three years of probationary supervision. Other former high-ranking officials and politicians of the republic received similar sentences.
Later, the state prosecution and the defense appealed the verdict to the Bishkek City Court. Prosecutors requested nine years of imprisonment for all defendants.
Today, before the new decision was announced, the lawyer for the former State Committee for National Security chief stated that Kamchybek Tashiev was confident of an acquittal.
In February of this year, Kamchybek Tashiev was dismissed from his post as chairman of the State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan. He himself said he did not expect his dismissal. Meanwhile, the country's president stated that Kamchybek Tashiev would never return to public service.
Recently, Jogorku Kenesh deputy Elvira Surabaldieva said in an interview that former State Committee for National Security chief Kamchybek Tashiev was dismissed for organizing an attempted coup.
Soon after, it became known that three former high-ranking officials of Kyrgyzstan were officially charged in the coup attempt case. Among them are former State Committee for National Security chief Kamchybek Tashiev, former deputy Kurmankul Zulushev, and former Jogorku Kenesh speaker Nurlanbek Turgunbek uulu.
These are serious charges related to organizing mass riots and actions that investigators consider an attempted coup. The case has been dubbed the "case of the 75" in the media. It received this name due to an open letter that, according to investigators, was signed by 75 people. The appeal contained calls for early presidential elections in Kyrgyzstan.