BISHKEK. July 25 (Interfax) - Former Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who fled the country in 2010 following an opposition-led uprising, and his younger brother Zhanybek (Zhanysh), who then headed the Kyrgyz State Security Service, have been convicted of responsibility for the murder of over 80 people, who died during clashes between police and opposition supporters in Bishkek on April 7, 2010, and have been sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment with the confiscation of their property.
The verdict was announced by Judge Damir Onolbekov in Bishkek on Friday.
The Bakiyev brothers were found guilty of attempted murder and abuse of power and were banned from holding public posts for three years, he said.
The former deputy heads of the State Security Service, Daniyar Dunganov and Nurlan Temirbayev, were also convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison each.
Temirbayev was found guilty of exceeding his authority when issuing orders to open fire on the protesters.
Kyrgyzstan's former special service chief Murat Sutalinov was convicted on the same charges and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Dunganov, Temirbayev and Sutalinov were present in the courtroom when the verdict was announced.
The events that occurred in the center of Bishkek on April 7, 2010 left more than 80 people dead and another 300 injured, prompting Kurmanbek Bakiyev to flee the country. He and his younger brother are currently residing in Belarus. They have repeatedly rejected the accusations leveled against them and have called this trial a "political order".
The court proceedings into the April 7, 2010 events had continued for four years. Twenty-eight people, including former high-ranking officials of Bakiyev's administration and government, had been put on trial.
An Interfax correspondent has reported from the courtroom that security was increased in the court building and the convicted persons were led out of the courtroom one by one under heavy police guard in order to prevent possible attacks on them on the part of people whose relatives were killed or injured in those events.