Rita Karasartova. Photo courtesy of super.kg
A court in Bishkek has ordered Kyrgyz human rights defender Rita Karasartova to be held in pretrial detention until May 12, according to a report by Kloop.kg.
Karasartova is facing charges under Article 278, Part 1 (“Mass Riots”) of the Kyrgyz Republic’s Criminal Code. The Bishkek City Court stated that she is suspected of “abetting mass unrest.”
The decision was handed down by the Sverdlov District Court of Bishkek during a late-night hearing held between April 16 and 17. Kloop.kg reports that the judge declared Karasartova’s detention “illegal but justified.”
According to Karasartova’s lawyers, the hearing was marred by procedural violations. The judge reportedly failed to provide official documentation showing that the case had been accepted for review and denied the defense’s request for a translator. When defense attorneys asked what precisely Karasartova was being accused of and whether any expert assessments had been conducted, the investigator replied only that “this is a matter of investigative secrecy.”
Karasartova was detained during the night of April 14–15, following a search of her home. She was taken in for questioning and placed in a temporary detention facility. She has linked her arrest to a letter she posted on social media written by activist Tilekmat Kurenov. The letter, which concerned Kurenov’s family, had been written earlier with instructions to publish it if anything happened to him. According to Kurenov’s relatives, he went missing in Dubai on April 10. Karasartova subsequently published the letter on her Facebook page (a platform banned in Russia and owned by Meta, which is designated as extremist in Russia).
International human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have called on Kyrgyz authorities to uphold their human rights obligations and to release Karasartova “immediately and unconditionally.”
“Kyrgyz authorities must promptly clarify the legal grounds for Rita Karasartova’s detention, ensure her full rights are upheld, and guarantee access to adequate medical care. If, as it appears, she is being held solely for exercising her right to freedom of expression, she must be released immediately and unconditionally,” said Marie Struthers, Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia at Amnesty International.
