Kyrgyzstan sentences 17 to life for murders during ethnic conflict

BISHKEK. November 24. KAZINFORM A court of the Suzaksky district in Kyrgyzstan's Jalal-Abad region sentenced 17 people to life imprisonment for murders committed during the ethnic conflict earlier this year, the regional administration told Itar-Tass on Wednesday; Kazinform refers to Itar-Tass.

"Another two defendants have been sentenced to 25 years in jail, " a Jalal-Abad region official said, "the court ascertained that during the tragic events, the convicts participated in the murders of 16 people."

According to the investigators, a group of local residents poured fuel oil on asphalt at the Topurak-bel Pass on the Bishkek-Osh road on June 12-13, to stop the cars that were passing by. They killed the passengers and the drivers and set the vehicles on fire.

"Despite the earlier rumours, the hearing of this case passed without incidents," the regional administration noted.

Mass disturbances and ethnic clashes in the regional centre in southern Kyrgyzstan between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks began overnight to June 11. The next day, they spread to the neighbouring Jalal-Abad region. The authorities announced a state of emergency and imposed a curfew, which was effective for almost two months.

The republic announced partial mobilization of reservists, and planned to send them to the troubled region to contain the conflict.

During several days of clashes, some 400 people were killed and another 2,000 were wounded. More than 2,000 private one-storey houses and administrative buildings were burnt or demolished.