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Indonesia Postpones Kyrgyz Woman's Verdict In Drug Case


Jibek Sakeeva (undated)
Jibek Sakeeva (undated)
BISHKEK -- A verdict in the drug-trafficking trial of Kyrgyz citizen Jibek Sakeeva has again been postponed, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.

Sakeeva's brother, Turat Sakeev, told RFE/RL that the issuing of his sister's verdict had been postponed to May 26.

Sakeeva, 21, from the southern Kyrgyz city of Jalal-Abad, was arrested at Bandung International Airport in October after police found a kilogram of heroin in one of the bags she was carrying.

The case first made headlines in Kyrgyzstan on April 28, after an Indonesian journalist told RFE/RL about Sakeeva's trial.

Sakeeva said the heroin did not belong to her but to one of her friends in Africa who asked her to take it to Indonesia.

The verdict was initially expected on May 18, but was postponed for one day because the translator did not come to the courtroom.

The Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry's press service told RFE/RL last month that Sakeeva's case would be discussed during meetings in Jakarta on May 25-27 between Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Ruslan Kazakbaev and Indonesian Foreign Ministry officials.

Kyrgyzstan has no diplomatic mission in Indonesia, so the Kyrgyz consul in Malaysia, Azamat Kaibaliev, is attending the trial.

Kyrgyz Ombudsman Tursunbek Akun told RFE/RL that prosecutors had asked the judge to sentence Sakeeva to 15 years in jail.

Read more in Kyrgyz here
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