Leader of Social Democrats political party Temirlan Sultanbekov and party members Irina Karamushkina and Roza Turksever were sentenced to three years of probation supervision. The Sverdlovsky District Court of Bishkek confirmed the information to 24-kg.com news agency.
The verdict was announced on April 24 behind closed doors. Temirlan Sultanbekov in an interview with April TV channel stated that he does not agree with the verdict and intends to appeal it.
Recall, on November 13, 2024, searches were conducted at the headquarters of the political party. The Main Department of Internal Affairs of Bishkek reported the initiation of a criminal case under the article «Vote buying» of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic after an audio recording of a conversation allegedly between the head of the headquarters of the Social Democrats party Irina Karamushkina and candidate Daniyar Cholponbaev was posted on social media, where they allegedly discussed vote buying in the elections of deputies to local council.
On November 15, the Sverdlovsky District Court placed Temirlan Sultanbekov, Irina Karamushkina and Roza Turksever in pretrial detention center No. 1. The arrested persons are accused of vote buying.
Then, practically on the first day of detention by law enforcement officers, Sultanbekov declared a hunger strike and held it for 100 days, after which he suspended the protest due to deteriorating health.
The leader of the Social Democrats party, who was in pretrial detention, said that their case was classified as «secret» the day before the arrival of the delegation of the Human Rights Committee of the European Parliament. President Sadyr Japarov explained why the case was classified.
Probation supervision is a criminal-legal measure where the convicted person is not isolated from society but is placed under the control of probation authorities.
It involves monitoring the person’s behavior by probation officers and the fulfillment of certain obligations established by the court.
