Kyrgyzstan: Defense Lawyer Held, Charged in Apparent Retaliation

By Human Rights Watch

Click to expand Image The Kyrgyzstan flag is raised at Ala-Too Square, in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on March 3, 2022. © 2022 Vladimir Voronin / AP (Bishkek, December 6, 2024) – Kyrgyzstani authorities should immediately release Samat Matsakov, a criminal defense lawyer known for representing government critics and opponents who have been politically targeted, Human Rights Watch said today. Matsakov was detained on November 29, 2024, and the following day a district court in Bishkek ordered that he be held in pre-trial detention for a month on charges of “large-scale fraud and…

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