ASTANA. June 26 (Interfax) - A lawyer for Kazakh citizen Akzharkyn Turlybai, who has been given a life sentence in China for drug trafficking, has lodged an appeal.
"The defense team for Akzharkyn Turlybai has announced that it has filed an appeal in compliance with a timeframe set by Chinese legislation. We continue to insist that our fellow citizen is not guilty," her lawyer Sunkar Nurmagambetov told Interfax on Friday.
The preliminary information available indicates that Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry, acting through its diplomatic channels, has also lodged an appeal for Turlybai with China's superior court, he said.
"As soon as we know a date for an appeal hearing, I and Akzharkyn's relatives will go [to China] to attend the trial. I hope that a positive decision will be adopted for Akzharkyn Turlybai, using legal and diplomatic procedures," Nurmagambetov said.
A court in the Chinese city of Guangzhou convicted Kazakh university student Turlybai of drug trafficking and sentenced her to life imprisonment.
She was detained by China's law enforcement agencies in mid-March 2014.