Human Rights Defender Rita Karasartova Detained: Kyrgyzstan
News: 15/4/2025
Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said:
“The Rita Karasartova detention is a troubling development in Kyrgyzstan’s deepening crackdown on civic space. It appears linked primarily to her public engagement with a politically sensitive case.”
She added that the authorities of Kyrgyzstani must urgently give a reason for the detention and ensure that her rights are fully respected and she has access to adequate healthcare. That if the detention is as result of her exercising her right to freedom of expression, then she must be released immediately and unconditionally.
A search was done in her home and thereafter she was arrested, this happened immediately after she shared a post on her Facebook page about a letter concerning the exiled Kyrgyzstani activist Tilekmat Kurenov, who has allegedly gone missing not long ago in the United Arab Emirates. A formal charge is yet to be filed against Rita Karasartova. However, the authorities are relying on Article 278(3) of the Criminal Code (“mass riots”) as the reason for her detention.
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