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Kyrgyz Report: November 30, 2000


30 November 2000

PRESIDENT AMNESTIES SOME CONVICTED, BUT NOT TURGUNALIEV.
The presidential press service announced in Bishkek that President Askar Akayev signed on 30 November a special decree #331 amnestying six out of seven men, convicted of preparing last year a plot to assassinate Akayev. According to the press service, Kojokmat Akimbaev, Kubanychbek Jalikulov, Akimjan Jalilov, Ismail Muratov, Mamadiyar Orozov and Raiymjan Sarykov submitted a petition to the president saying they fully admitted their guilt and asking for an amnesty.

Leader of opposition Topchubek TurgunAliyev was named an ideological leader of a criminal group who prepared the plot and did not plead guilty. So did the other 6 persons at the two trials.

A district court of Bishkek sentenced TurgunAliyev on 1 September to 16 years of imprisonment. The other six men were sentenced to terms from 14 to 16 years. The Bishkek City Court ruled on 24 November to reduce the sentences by more than half. Turgunaliev's term was reduced from 16 to 6 years.

All the accusations were based on testimony of a single person, Timur Stamkulov, who was also was arrested and convicted but amnestied and released on 1 September. He told the court in August that he organized a group and did it according to instructions from security officials.

CHIEF EDITOR CHARGED.
Chief editor of the independent "Delo Nomer..." weekly of Kyrgyzstan told RFE/RL correspondent in Bishkek on 30 November that the Ministry of National Security charged him and corespondent Vadim Nochevkin officially on 29 November with the clause 300 of the Criminal Code - divulgence of state secrets.

Nochevkin published on 26 July 2000 an article about the trial against Felix Kulov, former Kyrgyz vice president. He was accused of power abuse, arrested on 22 March, tried in June-July and acquitted on 7 August.

There is another ongoing criminal case against the paper. Nochevkin published an article about deputy security minister Boris Poluektov on 12 April 2000. Poluektov was a main prosecutor in the Felix Kulov's case. He sued the paper for the article demanding a 2-million-som (about $42,000) compensation.

The office of the paper as well as private apartments of the chief editor, his deputy and correspondent Nochevkin were searched and they were questioned at the Security Ministry several times. Deputy chief editor Svetlana Krasilnikova was hospitalized after one of the visits to the ministry.

PRESIDENT AKAYEV TO MINSK SUMMIT.
Kyrgyz governmental delegation led by President Askar Akayev departed on 30 November to Minsk to participate in the CIS summit meetings. Meeting of the CIS council of prime ministers and council of foreign ministers are being held on 30 November and the presidents would meet on 1 December. Among the items to be discussed are financing of the CIS counter-terrorism center, licensing of an agreement on creation of a free-trade zone, financing of a unified air defense system and others.

According to the presidential press service, Akayev will meet in Minsk with Russian President Vladimir Putin and discuss bilateral relations between Russia and Kyrgyzstan.

OTHER CIS MEETING IN ASTANA.
Minister of Labor and Social Affair Imankadyr RysAliyev and Director of the State Agency on Demography and Migration Cholponkul Arabaev departed on 30 November to Astana, Kazakhstan. The 12th meeting of CIS officials for migration, labor and social affairs is being held there 30 November - 1 December. Legal status of migrant workers, unemployment, social problems would be discussed.

USAID SEMINAR IN BISHKEK.
The USAID office in Bishkek will open on 1 December a new project on the optimal usage of water resources and electrical power in Central Asia. A US company is alloting $16.5 million for the 3-year project.

DELEGATION OF WOMEN PARLIAMENTARIANS IN SWEDEN.
According to the parliamentary press service, a delegation of Kyrgyz women parliamentarians is now in Sweden. An international conference on promoting women leadership is being in Stockholm on 28 November - 4 December.

HEPATITIS EPIDEMIC IN TALAS REGION.
According to the sanitary inspection of the Talas Province, there are now 2,900 people in the province sick with Hepatitis B. More than 2,500 of them are children and two of them died recently. Number of sick people is about 5 times more than last year. Main reasons of the epidemic are bad living and sanitary conditions, lack of drinkable water. Hepatitis epidemics happen in Kyrgyzstan every 5-6 years.

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