On March 10, supporters and relatives of activist Adilet Baltabay went to the Supreme Court and the State Committee for National Security in Bishkek demanding the release of the activist.
The protesters came out with posters “Freedom to Adilet Baltabay!” According to them, the examination showed that Baltabay did not make calls that would disturb the peace of people or push them to create chaos. But despite this, he was imprisoned for a period of 5 years.
“My son was taken into custody, he was falsely accused, not only he, but also we, his relatives, are suffering. In order to make a fair decision at the next court session, we came to the Supreme Court,” said the activist’s mother, Saikal Zhunusova.
Near the building of the State Committee for National Security, the supporters of the activist turned to the head of the State Committee, Kamchybek Tashiev, and wrote a letter with a request to meet with him.
Adilet Baltabay was detained in June 2022 on charges of inciting mass riots. The owner of the Next TV channel, Ravshan Dzheenbekov, told Kloop that Baltabay had been working as a correspondent for the channel for the past two months. Jeenbekov also said that the activist’s personal posts on Facebook served as the reason for the interrogations.
The activist himself said that 20-30 publications were selected from his posts on Facebook and the examination revealed that they contained calls for mass riots. He pleaded not guilty, and considers the case against him a violation of freedom of speech.
First, the court found Baltabay guilty and sentenced him to five years’ imprisonment. But he released him from the courtroom, appointing three years of probation supervision. However, in January 2023, the Bishkek City Court changed this decision, canceling the probation supervision.
The activist was taken into custody in the courtroom and sentenced to five years in prison.
Author: Rustam Tursunbekov