Crossroads Asia | Politics | Central Asia

Tashiev Convicted in Coup Plot, Granted Probation Instead of Prison

That Tashiev was given probation after a coup plot conviction while Kyrgyz journalists and musicians sit in jail, or exile, for reporting on his family’s corruption says everything that needs to be said about the character of justice and politics in Kyrgyzstan. 

The day after Kamchybek Tashiev’s trial ended with a guilty verdict, the former former head of the State Committee for National Security was spotted heading for the VIP section of Kurmanbek Stadium in Manas (formerly Jalal-Abad) to attend a Kyrgyz Premier League match between Muras United and Asiagol.

On July 2, a judge in Bishkek delivered a verdict in the so-called “Letter of 75” case.

Tashiev, alongside former Speaker of the Zhogorku Kenesh Nurlanbek Turgunbek uulu, former Member of Parliament Kurmankul Zulushev, and five others, were found guilty of a coup attempt under Article 326 (“Violent seizure or retention of power, as well as an attempt to violently change the constitutional order”) and acquitted of abuse of office charges.

Although Tashiev and the rest were sentenced to four years in prison, the judge replaced their prison terms with three years of supervised probation. The five defendants who had been in custody were released. Tashiev served not a single day in detention.

The judge justified his changing of the sentences from jail time to probation because the convicted conspirators didn’t actually manage to complete the crime.

As reported by RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service, a statement from the court explained that “it was not a completed crime, as provided for by Article 326 of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic, that was established, but preparation for its commission.” 

The statement went on to cite the “personalities of the accused and their potential for rehabilitation without serving a prison sentence” in justifying probation. 

The trial kicked off in mid-May and was immediately closed to the public. At the request of the defendants, the trial was opened in mid-June........

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