The Bishkek City Court has upheld the decision of the Sverdlovsky District Court regarding the vote-buying case involving representatives of the Social Democrats party. The defendants in the case are Temirlan Sultanbekov, Irina Karamushkina, and Roza Turksever.
The hearing was presided over by judge Adis Momunaliev.
In April, the District Court found party leader Temirlan Sultanbekov and members Irina Karamushkina and Roza Turksever guilty and sentenced them to three years of probationary supervision. They were also ordered to compensate damages amounting to 12 million soms to the victims, while their property was ordered to be confiscated.
As a result, the Social Democrats party has been disqualified from participating in the upcoming early parliamentary elections.
Temirlan Sultanbekov announced that the City Court’s verdict will be appealed to the Supreme Court.
On November 15, 2024, the Sverdlovsky District Court of Bishkek placed Sultanbekov, Karamushkina, and Turksever in pretrial detention center 1 until January 13, 2025. They were charged with vote-buying. Shortly after his arrest, Sultanbekov declared a hunger strike.
On November 13, searches were conducted at the party’s headquarters. The Main Department of Internal Affairs of Bishkek opened a criminal case under the article «Vote Buying» of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic after an audio recording was published on social media allegedly featuring Irina Karamushkina, head of the party’s campaign headquarters, and candidate Daniyar Cholponbaev, discussing vote buying ahead of local council elections.
