ASTANA, May 15 (RIA Novosti) – Leaflets expressing support for the Boston Marathon bombing suspects have appeared in the Central Asian republic of Kazakhstan, which neighbors Kyrgyzstan, where the Tsarnaev brothers lived with their family before moving to the United States, regional media said on Wednesday.
The Ak Zhaik newspaper said a handwritten flier reading “Chechen Republic. Free Jahar [Dzhokhar]. In support of the Tsarnaev Brothers,” had been stuck to a lamppost near the Atyrau recreation center in western Kazakhstan.
Another leaflet appeared two meters up a nearby pole that had previously held a police surveillance camera. It bore a photo of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and the phrase – in English – “Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Is Innocent,” the newspaper said.
Passers-by said the leaflets had been there for several days. Earlier reports said similar posters had appeared in Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, and his brother Dzhokhar, 19, are accused of planting bombs at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15 that killed three people and injured over 260. Tamerlan died in a shootout with police on April 19, while Dzhokhar was wounded following a massive manhunt and is now in jail.
The brothers, who have Chechen roots, lived in Dagestan, a violence-ridden republic in Russia’s North Caucasus region, and the Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan before moving to the United States nearly a decade ago.
Professions of love and support for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev have been popping up on Internet social media sites by the thousands – driven in part by scores of US schoolgirls who insist the brown-eyed, baby-faced teen has been framed.
