KYRGYZ COURT ACQUITS, RELEASES ALLEGED AKRAMIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L BISHKEK 001384 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/29/2016 TAGS: PGOV PREL PREF PHUM KDEM KG SUBJECT: KYRGYZ COURT ACQUITS, RELEASES ALLEGED AKRAMIA MEMBERS REF: BISHKEK 1373 Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Lee Litzenberger, Reason 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Two days after the Kyrgyz trial of Gulmira Maksudova and three other alleged Akramia members began, UNHCR was able to confirm, on September 29, that Maksudova and Jamshed Kadirov (also an Uzbek national) were surprisingly acquitted of all charges after both agreed to pay a 5,000 som (approximately 130 USD) fine for the forged Kyrgyz passports each were found with during their arrest on July 19. According to UNHCR, they have since been released from the detention center where they have been held since the arrest and taken to UNHCR's office in Osh. UNHCR's representative in Osh, Mulusew Mamo, told Ambassador (who is currently in Osh on travel) that their main priority at this point is to resettle the two outside of Kyrgyzstan as quickly as possible. ¶2. (SBU) Per reftel, the trial of Maksudova, Kadirov and two Kyrgyz nationals charged with possession of ammunition, counterfeiting Kyrgyz passports and plotting terrorist attacks, started on September 27. Kyrgyz authorities had also charged that the group was involved in the 2005 Andijon uprising and were members of the Uzbek-banned Akramia movement, an association founded by Maksudova's father. ¶3. (SBU) Additional information regarding the court's decision has yet to be announced. It remains to be seen if the prosecution will appeal the acquittal. Post will continue to monitor these events closely and report further developments as they occur. YOVANOVITCH