(Bishkek, May 30, 2025) – A Kyrgyz court on May 27, 2025, convicted former National Academy of Sciences researcher and whistleblower, Zhoomart Karabaev, of “incitement of mass disorder” and calling for disobedience to authorities, sentencing him to three years’ probation, Human Rights Watch said today. Karabaev was prosecuted in retaliation for his social media posts alleging the systematic fabrication of expert evidence for criminal trials. Karabaev’s lawyers said they would appeal the conviction.

Karabaev, a 27-year-old linguistics expert, was detained in July 2024 after posting allegations on Facebook claiming that prosecutors systematically use fabricated expert conclusions in cases against government critics. Authorities then used the posts as alleged evidence of the two offences with which he was charged; prosecutors initially sought seven years in prison.

“Karabaev’s posts exposed a practice that would indicate corruption at the heart of what is supposed to be a system of fair trial, which deserves an independent, effective investigation in response, leading to full accountability,” said Syinat Sultanalieva, Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “It is outrageous that, instead, authorities prosecuted and punished the messenger, a chilling sign of how far the state will go to crackdown on free speech and opposing views.”

Karabaev’s conviction is the latest in a series of incidents that point to corruption in the judicial system, exactly what Karabaev was...

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