The Bishkek City Court upheld the guilty verdict against four journalists.

The panel on criminal cases considered and dismissed the appeals against the decision of the Leninsky District Court of Bishkek against four former and current employees of Temirov Live and Ait Ait Dese projects — Makhabat Tazhibek kyzy, Azamat Ishenbekov, Aike Beishekeeva and Aktilek Kaparov. Earlier, the District Court found them guilty of calling for mass riots.

The other seven defendants in the case were acquitted for the lack of corpus delicti.

The appeal of the lawyers was considered by judges Adis Momunaliev (presiding judge), Nurlan Kozhomberdiev and Zamirbek Ataev. Earlier, Momunaliev and Kozhomberdiev were members of the panel of judges by whose decision investigative journalist Bolot Temirov was deported from the country.

Lawyer Nursultan Zhanybekov said that he intends to appeal the City Court’s decision to the Supreme Court.

In mid-January, 11 journalists from the team of investigating journalist Bolot Temirov were arrested and charged under Article 278 «Calls for mass riots» of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic. Makhabat Tazhibek kyzy, Sapar Akunbekov, Azamat Ishenbekov, Saypidin Sultanaliev, Aktilek Kaparov, Tynystan Asypbekov, Maksat Tazhibek uulu, Zhoodar Buzumov, Zhumabek Turdaliev, Aike Beishekeeva and Akyl Orozbekov were placed in the pretrial detention center. All of them are former or current employees of Temirov Live. The court’s chosen preventive measure was detention. Later, most of the defendants were placed under house arrest and released on a written undertaking not to leave the city.

In October, the Leninsky District Court of Bishkek announced the verdict. Makhabat Tazhibek kyzy, the wife of Bolot Temirov, and Azamat Ishenbekov were sentenced to six and five years in prison. Aktilek Kaparov and Aike Beishekeeva were sentenced to three years of probation. The rest were acquitted.