Preliminary hearings to take place without Almazbek Atambayev

Preliminary hearings of the criminal case on illegal release of the kingpin Aziz Batukaev will be held without Almazbek Atambayev. His lawyer Sergey Slesarev told.
According to him, during the hearing, the court heard a statement prepared by the head of the pre-trial detention center of the State Committee for National Security that Almazbek Atambayev agreed not to participate in the preliminary hearings. Based on this document, the court decided to consider the case without participation of the former president of the country.

"In addition, the court tried to get a non-disclosure agreement from the parties. The defense opposed it, since this issue has not been settled in the Criminal Procedure Code," said Sergey Slesarev.
The day before, the court ordered the State Penitentiary Service to ensure presence of Almazbek Atambayev at the trial of the case on illegal release of the crime boss Aziz Batukaev.
The defendants in the case are 19 people, including the former head of state Almazbek Atambayev.