JALAL-ABAD, Kyrgyzstan -- A court in Kyrgyzstan has convicted a man of fighting alongside Islamic militants in Syria and sentenced him to six years in prison.
In a January 26 ruling, the court in the southern city of Jalal-Abad found 32-year-old Niyazbek Aidarov guilty of mercenary activity.
Aidarov, a father of two, was arrested in October and accused of fighting in Syria on the side of Islamic militants in 2012-13.
His wife, Khurshida Nazimjanova, told RFE/RL that the verdict and sentence are unjust.
She alleged that Aidarov's rights were violated during the investigation, as well as legal procedures, and said he should have been acquitted as a result.
Kyrgyz authorities have said that more than 500 citizens of the predominantly Muslim Central Asian country, including some 140 women and almost 100 children, have joined the extremist group Islamic State in Syria in recent years.
At least 92 of them have been killed, authorities say.
