(Bishkek, December 6, 2024) – Kyrgyzstani authorities should immediately release Samat Matsakov, a criminal defense lawyer known for representing government critics and opponents who have been politically targeted, Human Rights Watch said today. Matsakov was detained on November 29, 2024, and the following day a district court in Bishkek ordered that he be held in pre-trial detention for a month on charges of “large-scale fraud and document forgery.” Observers cited numerous procedural violations in his detention and court hearing.
Matsakov has represented former and current journalists of the Temirov Live investigative reporting outlet, including Makhabat Tajibek kyzy, Azamat Ishenbekov, Aike Beishekeeva, and Aktilek Kaparov, who the Bishkek city court found guilty of “calls to mass riots” in October. He also represented the poet, Azamat Jetigen, who was sentenced in July to three years prison for “public calls to violent government overthrow,” and Imamidin Tashov, a businessman in pre-trial detention since April on similar charges.
“It is hard to believe that Samat Matsakov’s detention is anything but related to his professional activities as a lawyer representing critics and opponents of the government,” said Syinat Sultanalieva, Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Matsakov’s arrest targets the independence of the legal profession and undermines confidence in Kyrgyzstan’s justice system, and he should be released immediately.”
A coalition of human rights defenders and civic activists have spoken out forcefully against Matsakov’s detention. Officers believed to be from the State Committee for National Security went to his home on the evening of November 29 and searched it without a court order. They arrested Matsakov and confiscated his voice recorder and DVDs from the Tashov case, materially irrelevant to any allegations of forgery.
Matsakov was not provided with documentation related to the arrest or search setting out the legal basis and scope for the arrest or search, or how the search was conducted.
Matsakov’s legal team has not been given any evidence of his alleged crimes, nor have investigators organized a required session, in which he would face the alleged victim of the crime. During the November 30 judicial hearing on pre-trial detention, his defense team sought access to the case documents, specifically evidence of Matsakov’s alleged document forgery, but were refused, as the investigators invoked “investigative secrecy.”
The investigators would only say that they accuse Matsakov of forging an agreement with an unnamed client. The judge refused all defense motions, including that according to law, the charges did not warrant pretrial detention, before sending Matsakov to jail.
The Kyrgyzstani Council of Lawyers issued a statement on December 2 reminding the authorities that, among other things, according to law, only the prosecutor general or their deputy has the authority to initiate a criminal case against a lawyer in connection with their professional activities. They called for an inquiry into the legality of the national security committee bringing a case against Matsakov, for due process to be fully respected, and for an end to any efforts to undermine the independence of the bar. Efforts to retaliate against lawyers for doing their job directly contradicts the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, which codifies the norms for protecting the independence of the legal profession.
Matsakov’s detention is not an isolated event but part of a broader pattern of increasing repression in Kyrgyzstan. During 2024, the government has progressively narrowed civic space, with a Russia-style “foreign agent” law. Several journalists, bloggers, poets and writers have been found guilty of calling for mass riots, and, Kloop Media, an award-winning investigative outlet, was liquidated by court order.
Kyrgyzstan’s international partners should call on the authorities to release Matsakov, drop the charges against him or produce credible evidence of any wrongdoing, and ensure that there are strong protections for lawyers and human rights defenders against arbitrary interference or retaliation by authorities, in line with Kyrgyzstan’s international human rights obligations.
“Kyrgyzstani authorities should release Matsakov immediately and conduct a thorough and objective review of the legality of the actions of the national security committee,” Sultanalieva said. “Any and all actions aimed at undermining the independence of the legal profession need to end.”
