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| Kyrgyz court annuls charge against Opp leader |
| 2005-04-07 |
 Kyrgyzstan's Supreme Court annulled on Wednesday one of two criminal charges against key opposition leader Felix Kulov, a first step towards allowing him to run in a presidential election in June. The court overturned a guilty verdict on a charge of abuse of power dating from his time as head of the security services in the late 1990s. It was due to consider an appeal against a second set of embezzlement charges later on Wednesday. Kulov was sprung from jail during a lightning coup and street protests in the ex-Soviet state on March 24. A key opponent of former President Askar Akayev, he was imprisoned in 2001 on embezzlement and abuse of power charges that he said were politically motivated. |
| Posted by:Fred |