NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION File Name: 20a0067n.06 No. 19-3058 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT FILED Jan 30, 2020 TALANTBEK AKMATOV, DEBORAH S. HUNT, Clerk Petitioner, v. ON PETITION FOR REVIEW FROM THE UNITED STATES BOARD OF WILLIAM P. BARR, Attorney General, IMMIGRATION APPEALS Respondent. BEFORE: MERRITT, CLAY, and BUSH, Circuit Judges. CLAY, Circuit Judge. Petitioner Talantbek Akmatov asks this Court to review the Board of Immigration Appeals’ denial of his application for asylum and withholding of removal. See 8 U.S.C. §§ 1158, 1231(b)(3). For the reasons set forth below, Akmatov’s petition is denied. I. BACKGROUND Talantbek Akmatov is a citizen of Kyrgyzstan, where he previously served as a police officer. In this role, Akmatov investigated organized crime, including members the “Kolbayev mafia”—criminals associated with alleged crime boss Kamchy Kolbayev. (A.R. at 216, 292–93.) According to Akmatov, he and other officers repeatedly confronted members of the Kolbayev mafia, including in gunfights, and arrested members on several occasions. But in many cases, prosecutors released the arrestees without charges. During his campaign against the Kolbayev mafia, Akmatov says he faced threats and violence from the suspects he pursued. For example, on two occasions, Akmatov received anonymous phone calls threatening him if he continued his investigations. In two other cases, Akmatov was injured during police actions; his assailants were charged with attempted murder. -1- Case No. 19-3058, Akmatov v. Barr And in 2010, the front door of Akmatov’s apartment was set on fire, allegedly by members of the Kolbayev mafia. Based on these threats and attacks, Akmatov resigned from the police force and fled to the United States. In his visa application, Akmatov falsely claimed that he worked for a construction company and was coming to the United States to visit a relative. The visa was approved, and he arrived in the country on October 24, 2012. About one month before his visa expired, Akmatov submitted an application for asylum and withholding of removal to the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”). In his application, Akmatov described his belief that Kolbayev had ordered his murder, and that his life would be forfeited if he returned to Kyrgyzstan. Specifically, Akmatov noted that in Kyrgyzstan, he “received phone calls with threats from uncertain numbers, some times [they] set fire to a door of [his] apartment . . . , [and] three times [his] life was exposed to attempt, [when] members [of the] criminal group shot at [him]” in their quest for revenge. (Id. at 664.) Akmatov also submitted several documents in support of his application. For example, he provided two documents labeled “Copy of Investigative Report . . . stating that Police Captain Talantbek Akmatov was hospitalized from being wounded by a 9 MM gun shot,” which described two separate alleged shootings. (Id. at 325, 341.) The documents themselves, which had been translated from Russian to English, said that Kolbayev mafia members had opened fire at Akmatov, resulting in his hospitalization “with wounds to the body” or “with body wounding,” respectively. (Id. at ...
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