Kyrgyz activists protest release of accused Turkish citizen
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 14 June 2011 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Kyrgyz activists protest release of accused Turkish citizen, 14 June 2011, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4e142b47c.html [accessed 17 September 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
June 14, 2011
BISHKEK – Some 30 Kyrgyz activists picketed Bishkek City Court on June 14 to demand punishment for judges who allowed a Turkish criminal suspect to be released, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.
Activist Aibek Janyshov told RFE/RL that the protesters – who are from the opposition Ata-Meken (Fatherland) party – are demanding an investigation and the disciplining of judges who ruled that Gunes Yilmaz, a Turkish citizen suspected of assaulting a Kyrgyz woman, could be released from a detention center and given house arrest.
Yilmaz is accused of assaulting and injuring Cholpon Oruzbaeva, a colleague at a Beta supermarket in Bishkek.
He was arrested on April 16 after Oruzbaeva was hospitalized with internal bleeding, which was likely to have been caused by being punched.
The demonstrators also insist that Beta management pay compensation to Oruzbaeva.
On June 6, despite the Supreme Court's upholding of an April decision by a Bishkek court to keep Yilmaz in pretrial detention, he was released and told not to leave Bishkek while the investigation continued.
But he violated the terms of the house arrest and his current whereabouts are unknown.
On June 7, dozens of youth activists also picketed the Supreme Court to demand an investigation into Yilmaz's release.
Read more in Kyrgyz here: http://www.azattyk.org/archive/ky-news-domestic/20110614/828/390.html?id=24234129
Link to original story on RFE/RL website