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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BISHKEK 001224 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/23/2019 
TAGS: KLIG PREL PINR ASEC PGOV KG
SUBJECT: PROGRESS IN STATUS OF ARRESTED FSNS BUT ADDITIONAL 
STEPS REQUIRED 
 
REF: (A) BISHKEK 1200 (B) STATE 117704 (C) BISHKEK 
     1198 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Tatiana C. Gfoeller, for Reasons 1.4 (b) and 
(d). 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary: Over the weekend the SNB took steps to end 
the prosecution of our local employees for "collecting secret 
data."  They closed the case and returned all items and 
papers seized in the arrest and subsequent searches. 
However, the provisions of law under which the actions were 
taken do not give complete confidence that the actions are 
irrevocable.  We are seeking final closure of the case and 
believe that the Government, clearly motivated to maintain 
its relationship with the U.S., will follow through.  End 
Summary. 
 
¶2.  (C) The Ambassador had lunch, at their invitation, with 
Foreign Minister Sarbayev and the head of the Central Agency 
for Development, Investment and Innovation, Maxim Bakiyev, on 
November 19.  During the lunch, FM Sarbayev asked about dates 
for the Annual Bilateral Consultations.  Ambassador responded 
that we did not yet have any information on dates, and that 
she really did not expect that we would be able to propose 
dates until the legal process against our local employees had 
been terminated.  Sarbayev and Bakiyev both evinced surprise 
that the issue had not yet been resolved.  Sarbayev noted 
that the Chairman of Kyrgyz National Security Service (SNB) 
had been ill for the past few days and wondered if that was 
the reason why expected action had not materialized.  He said 
he would take action, and that we should expect to have word 
the next day. 
 
¶3. (C) On Saturday November 21, the SNB informed Embassy 
officers and the arrested RSO FSNs, Emil Chodronov and Zamir 
Abdykasymov, that the FSNs had been "exempted from criminal 
liability" under Article 65 of the Kyrgyz Criminal Code.  The 
criminal investigation by the SNB into the FSNs had been 
ceased.  The FSNs had been charged under Article 302 for 
collecting official secret data for transfer to foreign 
organizations.  The SNB returned to the FSNs all of their 
personal items and all of the papers which had been seized. 
The FSNs signed statements accepting the Article 65 
determination, and, on the advice of counsel wrote above 
their signatures that they maintained their innocence.  They 
have returned to full-time work at the Embassy and are no 
longer under house arrest. 
 
¶4. (C) We met with the lawyers for our employees on November 
23 to discuss the implications of the mechanism used by the 
Kyrgyz government to end the legal process.  Article 65 of 
the Kyrgyz Criminal Code, under which our employees were 
released states that a person who committed a petty crime or 
a less severe crime for the first time may be exempted from 
criminal liability if the situation has changed and "the 
person is no longer socially dangerous" or the crime "has 
lost its socially dangerous nature."  The lawyers were unsure 
whether use of this article provides full, permanent 
protection from prosecution.  They noted that the government 
has not provided any written confirmation of the decision 
which has been taken, either.  Therefore, they recommended 
continuing with the next hearing, scheduled for November 24, 
which will consider a number of their procedural and other 
appeals and complaints against the government.  Perhaps the 
Government would take action in that hearing which would 
provide confirmation that the charges have been irrevocably 
dropped, they suggested. 
 
¶5.  (C) The Ambassador talked with the Foreign Minister on 
November 24.  She informed him of the lawyers' determination 
and suggested that some form of written communication either 
to our employees or to the USG from the Government of 
Kyrgyzstan informing us that the judicial process against our 
 
BISHKEK 00001224  002 OF 002 
 
 
employees has been terminated and will not be renewed would 
be necessary to put this issue finally to rest.  She noted 
that Washington has asked us whether there are any dates in 
the second half of January or the first half of February when 
the government of Kyrgyzstan could not meet for the Annual 
Bilateral Consultations.  He responded that Kyrgyzstan could 
meet on any dates in that timeframe.  He said he would 
contact the Ambassador the next day to discuss further the 
issue of written confirmation that the judicial process has 
been irrevocably terminated. 
 
¶6. (C) Comment: Sarbayev and Bakiyev have clearly been 
instrumental in bringing this problem toward resolution. 
From the way in which the case has progressed, it would seem 
to us that it was most likely the result of misjudgments and 
simple mistakes on the part of the Counter Intelligence 
division of the SNB.  Reversing its missteps is something 
which cuts against the grain in the Kyrgyz Republic and 
especially in the SNB, and use of Article 65 was likely an 
attempt to get out of this dead-end without admitting to any 
error on the part of the agency and its employees.  What we 
will keep pressing for, however, is that they find a way to 
guarantee that prosecution of this case will not be renewed. 
GFOELLER