Director of the Institute of Constitutional Policy, a well-known lawyer in the country, Nurlan Sadykov, today addressed the President of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev with an open letter. 24.kg news agency publishes it:

Dear Mr. President of the Kyrgyz Republic!

I am writing to you to share my observations on the current situation in the sphere of observance of the rule of law in the country.

Criminal proceedings in Kyrgyzstan have been instituted against members of the parliamentary opposition. According to experts, this trend represents a kind of political repetition of events that took place in the past.

There are absolutely no legitimate legal arguments in the case on charges of the deputy Aida Salyanova on the illegal licensing of the citizen Aleksey Yeliseyev.

This criminal case was initiated on the events of 2010, when Aida Salyanova held the post of acting Minister of Justice and issued an order to renew the validity of the lawyer license to Yeliseyev. At that time, there were no restrictions for renewal of the license, since its owner wasn’t convicted. Aleksey Yeliseyev was convicted by the Osh city court later — in 2013.

Moreover, the lack of professionalism of the investigation is manifested in the fact that events are described regarding Yeliseyev, including his activities in a foreign country, but conclusions are made regarding Aida Salyanova.

The rules of formal logic that the investigation must comply with are violated, and the prosecution didn’t bother to argue about the damage done to the state or the benefit received by someone.

The investigating authorities believe that since a criminal case was initiated against Yeliseyev, the Ministry of Justice had no right to renew the license. The Ministry of Justice received inquiries about Yeliseyev’s activities, but there was no question of revoking the license. The Ministry of Justice was guided by the principle of the presumption of innocence.

Article 26 of the Constitution states that «everyone is presumed innocent of the commission of a crime until his guilt is proven in the manner prescribed by law and established by a final judicial decision.»

This principle doesn’t allow restricting the rights of any citizen until he is convicted by a court. We don’t defend Aleksey Yeliseyev, but we consider it important to comply with all the requirements of the law and the Constitution.

The deputy of the parliament Omurbek Tekebayev was convicted by the court only on the application of the citizen of the Russian Federation. He didn’t provide any evidence other than his statement.

This method can be accused without proof of any civil servant and limit it in freedom. In this case, a dangerous precedent is created. But after all, our republic is sovereign and can’t indulge every foreign citizen, because we need irrefutable evidence in the commission of illegal actions.

In this case, the principle of a sovereign legal state must operate, which presupposes independence in foreign policy and independence in domestic politics.

An opposition deputy Almambet Shykmamatov is accused of illegally holding a tender for the sale of the car, but there is no signature in the tender documents, and Shykmamatov de jure wasn’t the owner of the car sold at the contest. And in this case, the accusation looks strained and engaged.

Your statements about significant financial injections into the judicial system are in no way consistent with justice in the judicial system. Courts haven’t yet become a bulwark of democracy and, as you yourself noted at the ceremonial meeting of the Judicial Reform Council, there is still much to be done in reforming the courts.

Unfortunately, the fight against corruption has become selective. Campaigns are conducted, but there is no deep, systematic identification of all the causes that generate it.

There is a struggle against corruption, but there is no system of preventing it by administrative methods, which are sometimes more effective than combating criminal consequences.

This year you resign your powers and should leave a trace in the history of Kyrgyzstan as the president of a law-based state. We ask you to restore justice and legality in the society, to stop the persecution of opposition MPs.

Nurlan Sadykov, Director of the Institute for Constitutional Policy, August 18, 2017.