(Sept. 12, 2017) On August 31, 2017, the Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan upheld a lower court’s rejection of a petition to list opposition leader Omurbek Tekebaev on the presidential election ballot this October. (Elizabeth Lowman, Kyrgyzstan Supreme Court Rejects Petition to Put Imprisoned Opposition Leader on Ballot, PAPER CHASE (Aug. 31, 2017).) Although a petition was submitted with about 39,000 signatures in support of Tekebaev’s nomination, well over the 30,000 required, the Central Election Commission had contended that the signatures were not valid because his election fund did not cover the expenses of collecting the signatures. (Id.)
Background
Tekebaev was placed in pre-trial detention in February 2017, with his detention confirmed by the Supreme Court in March, on charges of bribery, charges his supporters say are politically motivated. (Kyrgyz Supreme Court Upholds Detention of Opposition Leader, RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY (Mar. 29, 2017).) He was subsequently convicted and is now serving an eight-year term of imprisonment. (Lowman, supra.)
Relevant Law
Under Kyrgyzstan’s Constitution, the Supreme Court is “the highest body of judicial power in respect of civil, criminal, administrative as well as other cases; it shall revise the court rulings of local courts upon appeals of the participants in the judicial process in accordance with procedures established by the law.” (Kyrgyzstan’s Constitution of 2010, art. 96(1), CONSTITUTE PROJECT.) Its decisions are final and cannot be appealed. (Id. art. 96(3).)
The law that governs presidential elections specifies that candidates for the presidency must have 30,000 signatures and that these signatures must be collected by authorized representatives of the candidate. (The Constitutional Law of the Kyrgyz Republic on Presidential and Jogorku Kenesh Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic (2011, as amended in 2017), art. 52 ¶¶ 1 & 2, LEGISLATION LINE (click on link embedded in the title of the law).) The same law specifies that registration of a candidate will be canceled if a criminal court sentence for that candidate has entered into force. (Id. art. 46 ¶ 2(8).)