Azimjan Askarov - human rights defender serving life sentence after unfair trial

As United States Secretary of State Hilary Clinton continued her tour of Central Asia with a visit to Kyrgyzstan (today Thursday 02 December) Front Line has published an open letter to the Secretary of State in which the organisation renewed its call for the release of imprisoned human rights defender Azimjan Askarov and raised the issues of denial of due process and use of torture during his trial.

Further Information

During her visit Ms Clinton had a meeting with President Otunbeyeva during which she "expressed to the President the admiration the United States feels for the difficult road that Kyrgyzstan has decided to walk,”.

“This is a bold endeavor that the people of this country have undertaken - reinventing its democratic governance with a strong parliament designed to represent the full diversity of the people and regions in Kyrgyzstan", she added

Front Line is calling on Secretary of State Clinton to take the opportunity of this visit to raise the situation of human rights defenders in Kyrgyzstan with President Otunbeyeva and in particular the serious issues relating to the trial and conviction of Azimjan Askarov.

Azimjan Askarov was sentenced to life imprisonment for his alleged involvement in the killing of a policeman during the recent inter ethnic violence despite the fact that no credible evidence was presented against him and the ombudsman said that the charges were "clearly politically motivated".

Front Line also raised the issues of lack of adequate medical treatment, ill-treatment and denial of access to his legal representatives.

The full text of the letter to Secretary of State Clinton is attached as a PDF