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Belarus refuses to extradite former Kyrgyz President

15 June 2010 17:05 (UTC +04:00)

â€œThe General Prosecutorâ€™s Office has dismissed the request of the Kyrgyz side to extradite Kurmanbek Bakiyev,â€ Kisyalyou said, noting that the General Prosecutorâ€™s Office does not comment on this decision.
He said that the Prosecutorâ€™s office â€œhas already sent an answer to the Kyrgyz side. The substantiation of this decision is contained thereâ€.
In the second half of May a package of original documents was received from the General Prosecutorâ€™s Office of Kyrgyzstan concerning Bakiyevâ€™s extradition. Earlier it was also informed that a criminal case had been opened against Bakiyev under a number of Articles of the Criminal Code, including â€œmass murderâ€ committed on April 7 during clashes of law-enforcers with oppositionists.
The new authorities of the country have adopted a decree to withdraw immunity of ex-president Bakiyev.
As charter97.org informed earlier, Kurmanbek Bakiyev is in Belarus since April 19. The decision to grant him political asylum has been adopted by Alyaksandr Lukashenka personally. It caused protest of the new government of Kyrgyzstan and the families of the killed protesters, at whom Bakiyev ordered to open fire. Pickets are held near the Embassy of Belarus in Bishkek constantly. The new government of Kyrgyzstan demands to extradite Bakiyev to his country, however the Belarusian authorities refuse to do that.
It is known that Bakiyev with one of his inofficial wives and children lives in Lukashenka’s residence in Drazdy or in Berezensky natural reserve.
Yesterday Bakiyev held a press-conference in Minsk. At the conference he stated that he was not going to return to Bishkek.