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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BISHKEK 000082 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SCA/CEN (GORKOWSKI) 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/02/2020 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KG
SUBJECT: KYRGYZSTAN'S TRIALS:  WAITING FOR EVIDENCE IN 
PETROVKA 
 
REF: 09 BISHKEK 442 
 
BISHKEK 00000082  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Tatiana C. Gfoeller, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  SUMMARY:  The trial of six people charged with 
starting an ethnic riot in the village of Petrovka continues 
to grind forward.  Witness after witness denies that the 
defendants were inciting the riot, and many say that the 
three prominent activists on trial were trying to stop it. 
The prosecution shuffles on, barely paying attention to what 
the witnesses say, and the judge repeatedly denies requests 
to release prisoners on humanitarian grounds.  Meanwhile, the 
prisoners appear ever more haggard, and cough continuously 
throughout trial sessions.  END SUMMARY. 
 
Background:  Riot in Petrovka 
----------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  On April 26, about 300 ethnic Kyrgyz and Russian 
residents of the village of Petrovka gathered to protest the 
authorities' inaction against the alleged rape of a 4 year 
old Russian girl by a Kurd.  The crowd broke windows in about 
15 homes belonging to Kurds, and overturned or set on fire 
six cars (reftel).  Police arrested about 80 people, 
including Erkin Bulekbayev, the leader of the Green Party, 
and opposition activists Saparbek Argymbayev, and Uran 
Ryskulov.  Internal Affairs Minister Moldomusa Kongantiyev 
subsequently blamed the political opposition for starting the 
riot, and the three arrested activists, along with three 
residents of Petrovka, were charged with inciting mass 
disorder.  The rest of the detained were released, some after 
paying fines, after one day of incarceration. 
 
Beatings for Profit, or Politics? 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (C)  In a meeting on September 23, Asiya Sasykbayeva, 
Director of the Interbilim Center, said that all of the 
activists were being beaten while in custody, and that she 
had observed injuries consistent with beating on Bulekbayev 
and Argymbayev.  When she went with a group of opposition 
activists to the Bishkek Pre-Trial Detention Center to 
protest against their treatment, she said that an inmate told 
her that prison guards had ordered them to beat the three 
detainees. 
 
¶5.  (C)  On October 7, the Embassy met with Bulekbayev's son, 
Kenshlik, who confirmed that his father had suffered several 
beatings at the hands of prison inmates.  Bulekbayev said 
that his family had received a demand for $50,000, apparently 
from inmates in the prison, in exchange for which they would 
stop beating his father.  Bulekbayev said that they sold 
their home and their car, but had not been able to raise that 
amount, and so his father was still being beaten.  Bulekbayev 
said that he and his brothers and sisters are not politically 
active, but that they are continually harassed by the police, 
and several of them have lost their jobs.  He concluded by 
saying that he believes the harassment will continue 
indefinitely, and asked about the process of applying for 
political asylum in another country.  Poloff referred him to 
a local legal clinic that has assisted other people seeking 
asylum. 
 
Waiting for the Evidence 
------------------------ 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  The trial of the three activists began in October. 
 During all of the trial's sessions that the Embassy has 
attended, we have not observed a single witness give 
testimony that supports the prosecution's charges that 
Bulekbayev and his co-defendants instigated the riot.  Two 
witnesses explicitly disavowed the written statements 
implicating the defendants that they made after the riots, 
one claiming that the police had pressured him to sign it, 
 
BISHKEK 00000082  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
and the other saying that he was mentally ill.  Some of the 
witnesses said that they did not see any of the defendants 
during the period of rioting, but a greater number testified 
that Bulekbayev was standing in front of the mob, urging them 
to stop throwing rocks, and to settle their disagreements 
with the Kurdish residents peacefully. 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  Observers of a recent trial session on December 8 
said that the prosecution presented a string of witnesses, 
all of whom repudiated their written testimony, saying that 
the police had pressured them into signing it.  According to 
observers, none of the witnesses gave evidence supporting the 
charges. 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  The prosecution team appears unruffled by the 
absence of evidence to support the charges.  The prosecutors 
appear to have done little preparation for cross-examining 
witnesses, and spend little time doing so.  Their questions 
often show that they were not listening to the witnesses' 
testimony -- in fact, they occasionally appear to be dozing, 
and one prosecutor talked on a cell phone while a witness was 
testifying.  In an apparent attempt to find something bad 
that Bulekbayev had done, a prosecutor asked a witness if it 
was true that Bulekbayev had called Prime Minister Daniyar 
Usenov "a crook."  Before the witness could answer, 
Bulekbayev stood up, and said that it was true, but he hadn't 
said it in Petrovka, he'd said it in a published newspaper 
interview. 
 
¶9.  (SBU)  In contrast to the prosecution, the defense 
attorneys, who include former Prosecutor General Azimbek 
Beknazarov, spend a great deal of time examining the 
witnesses.  Not content with simply establishing the 
falsehood of the charges, they appear to be laying the 
groundwork to rebut claims that the prosecution might make, 
but has not yet made.  The defense is generally supported by 
the audience, who frequently murmur approvingly when the 
defense makes a strong point.  On several occasions, audience 
members have stood up and made a statement, or asked 
questions of witnesses.  These interjections, accepted by the 
Judge, generally appear either neutral or supportive of the 
defense. 
 
¶10.  (SBU)  On November 17, several opposition leaders, 
including Asiya Sasykbayeva of the Interbilim Center, and 
Topchubek Turgunaliyev, the leader of the Erkindik Party, 
came to the trial, and made appeals for the prisoners to be 
released on humanitarian grounds, pledging that they would be 
responsible for guaranteeing that the prisoners did not flee. 
 The prisoners have appeared more haggard as the weather has 
gotten colder, and both Ryskulov and Argymbayev are suffering 
from chronic coughs.  The judge listened to the impassioned 
presentations, which noted that no evidence has yet been 
introduced to back up the charges, and adjourned the 
proceedings for an hour.  When he returned, he quickly read a 
judgment that, citing a number of laws and points of legal 
procedure, concluded with opaque logic that he could not 
grant the request. 
 
Comment 
------- 
¶11.  (C)  The Government seems intent on drawing out the 
trial, making it as painful as possible for the defendants. 
A finding of guilty is quite possible, even in the absence of 
supporting evidence, but given the prosecution's apparent 
indifference to the proceedings, it is also possible that the 
defendants will be found not guilty.  Then, the government 
can cite the trial's outcome as an example of justice done, 
even while the defendants' travails serve as a chilling 
example to the opposition. 
GFOELLER