City Court Upholds Legal Extension of Temirlan Sultanbekov’s Arrest
Bishkek City Court Upholds Extension of Arrest for Social Democrats Leader
Bishkek City Court has ruled that the extension of the arrest of the leader of the Social Democrats political party, Temirlan Sultanbekov, is legal. This decision was reported by Kadyrbek Atambayev.
The City Court reviewed an appeal against the decision of the investigating judge, who had previously rejected the claim against the investigator’s decision not to change the measure of restraint.
On January 9, the Sverdlovsky District Court extended the detention period for Temirlan Sultanbekov, Irina Karamushkina, and Rosa Turksever until February 12.
Kadyrbek Atambayev expressed disappointment with the court’s decision, stating that Temirlan Sultanbekov and his defense team disagreed with the ruling. He also mentioned that the media was once again prohibited from attending the court hearing and from recording video. The lawyers plan to appeal this decision and have been requesting the video recordings from the last hearing for a month.
During the hearing, Temirlan Sultanbekov expressed concerns about possible new criminal cases being initiated against him. He believes that the investigation lacks sufficient evidence to support bribery charges. Sultanbekov emphasized the risk of facing new unfounded charges in the future.
It should be noted that on November 15, 2024, the Sverdlovsky District Court placed Temirlan Sultanbekov, Irina Karamushkina, and Roza Turksever in pretrial detention center 1 until January 13, 2025. The individuals were charged with vote-buying, and Sultanbekov went on a hunger strike immediately after his arrest.
