Interpol refuses to put Kyrgyzstan's ousted president hiding in Belarus on its wanted list

Photo from the book by Kurmanbek Bakiyev ‘Pain, Love and Hope: My Kyrgyzstan’

Former Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, his brother Kanybek, and his elder son, Marat, have not been placed on Interpol’s international wanted list, the deputy director of the Interpol National Central Bureau in Kyrgyzstan, Dairbek Kazybayev, told a press conference in Bishkek on Friday.

“Interpol has declined to put Kurmanbek Saliyevich and Kanybek Saliyevich Bakiyev, as well as [the former president’s] elder son Marat on its international wanted list,” Kazybayev said.

“The refusal to put them on the wanted list stems from Article 3 of Interpol’s Charter, which says that it is strictly forbidden for the organization to undertake any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character,” he said.

At the same time, these people, as well as Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s two other brothers have been placed on the international wanted list in line with the Minsk convention, he added.

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Kurmanbek Bakiyev and his brother Zhanybek fled to Belarus after the 2010 revolution. Kurmanbek Bakiyev received political asylum in Minsk, his brother was also seen there in 2012.

In July, 2014 a court in Kyrgyzstan handed down a guilty verdict in absentia to Kurmanbek Bakiyev and sentenced him to life imprisonment for helping mastermind the murder of protesters in 2010. The demonstration, in which 77 people were killed and over 300 injured, led to the deposition of Bakiyev.

The issue of his extradition is regularly raised both by Belarusian and Kyrgyz authorities. Kurmanbek Bakiyev, his life partner and two children arrived in Belarus on personal invitation of Alyaksandr Lukashenka. The former Kyrgyz president was granted Belarusian citizenship in 2010. He reportedly bought a house on the outskirts of Minsk for $2 million.

“The problem of Bakiyev is now no more a problem in our relations,” Lukashenka said at his press conference on December 11, 2012. “Why do you need Bakiyev? The man lives his life. He left. Everything can happen. He raises his children.”

Belsat.eu, following interfax.com