CCPR/C/118/D/2127/2011
2.4
The author asserts that Mr. Akunov was placed in an administrative detention cell
with seven other persons. All of them were staff members of the Naryn Forest Service who
had been detained for being drunk. They later stated that as the police took Mr. Akunov to
the cell, he was commenting on politics. Subsequently, at around 11 p.m., another person
who was drunk was also put in the same cell. Shortly after 11 p.m., the detainees were
examined by a toxicologist, whose report indicated that Mr. Akunov had a moderate
amount of alcohol in his body. However, in its report on the death of Mr. Akunov, an
independent commission of human rights organizations stated that he was sober.
Furthermore, according to the author, his father did not drink and had not done so for seven
years prior to his death.
2.5
Sometime between 11 p.m. and 11.30 p.m., Mr. Akunov and four police officers
were seen near an apartment building opposite the Department of Internal Affairs. A
number of residents of the building witnessed the police officers beating Mr. Akunov and
later reported that the police officers continued to kick him even after he was handcuffed.
Witnesses also stated that Mr. Akunov lay on the ground repeatedly pleading for help,
screaming that the police were killing him and that they would not let him leave the
detention facility alive. He also asked that someone inform his sister, who lived in a
building nearby, about his detention. The police, who have claimed that Mr. Akunov was
trying to escape, dragged him back into the detention facility. Four police officers and staff
of the Department of Internal Affairs involved in assaulting Mr. Akunov were later
identified as K.U.A., U.R., K.U.B. and U.A.3 They claimed that Mr. Akunov had attempted
to escape from detention and had resisted their efforts to return him to the detention facility;
they also claimed that he fell to the ground and when they tried to lift him he resisted.
According to one of the witnesses, the four police officers dragged Mr. Akunov into the
Department of Internal Affairs, two by the arms and two by the legs, and handcuffed him.
2.6
Between 11.30 p.m. and midnight, the authorities released the eight other detainees
with whom Mr. Akunov shared a cell. The Forest Service members later reported that as
they were leaving the Department of Internal Affairs, they saw police officers carrying Mr.
Akunov towards the detention facility, his entire body covered in dust from having been
dragged along the ground. According to the author, the police officers again placed Mr.
Akunov in the administrative detention cell, where he was the only detainee to be kept
overnight. Nearby residents heard Mr. Akunov’s continuous pleas for help until 5 a.m. the
next morning.
2.7
At approximately 8.30 a.m., Mr. Akunov was taken before the chief of the police
station, T.N. According to police statements, Mr. Akunov admitted that he had sworn at
people at the City Hall the day before and apologized for his behaviour, explaining that he
was drunk and had gone there to find a friend. The police continued to hold Mr. Akunov in
the police station, stating that they planned to submit the case to the court, but could not do
so since it was a public holiday.
2.8
The author submits that at no point did the police notify any family member that Mr.
Akunov had been detained, as required by article 316 (2) of the Criminal Code, despite the
fact that he had explicitly asked that his sister be informed and had given her address;
furthermore, he was not provided with any medical attention. The chief of the police station,
T.N., later explained that Mr. Akunov would have been released if a family member had
requested it and taken responsibility for him.
2.9
Two guards were on duty later that morning. One of them, B.Zh., later testified that
he left the detention facility at approximately 11.50 a.m. to escort a visitor and when he
returned five minutes later, his colleague, B.K., informed him that Mr. Akunov had hanged
3
Full names of the police officers are available on file.
3