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Kyrgyzstan sends Bakiyev case to court regardless of extradition

© RIA NovostiKurmanbek Bakiyev, ousted Kyrgyz president
Kurmanbek Bakiyev, ousted Kyrgyz president - Sputnik International
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The Kyrgyz authorities are initiating a court case against ousted president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who took refuge in Belarus after he was overthrown in May, a Kyrgyz deputy prime minister said on Tuesday.

The Kyrgyz authorities are initiating a court case against ousted president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who took refuge in Belarus after he was overthrown in May, a Kyrgyz deputy prime minister said on Tuesday.

"We will no longer file [extradition] requests because his case is being sent to court," Azimbek Beknazarov, who oversees law enforcement and the judiciary, said, adding that Bakiyev could be convicted in absentia.

Other members of the Bakiyev family who are in exile, including his two sons, Marat and Maxim, and his brother Dzhanybek, could also be convicted in absentia, he added.

Bakiyev fled Kyrgyzstan in April amid large-scale opposition protests that brought interim leader Roza Otunbayeva to power. Belarus has refused twice to extradite the exiled president, saying the interim Kyrgyz government was not legitimate.

The Kyrgyz interim government first requested the former president's extradition in May, accusing him of power abuse and corruption and of ordering the shooting of civilians during the coup d'etat. Bakiyev has denied the claims.

In late June, a referendum on a new constitution was held in the republic as part of the interim authorities' efforts to return the country to democratic rule. Otunbayeva was approved in the referendum as the country's president for a provisional period until 2012.

Following the vote, the Kyrgyz authorities sent another extradition request to Belarus, but it was also turned down.

Bakiyev and his relatives have also been accused of instigating the recent clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and minority Uzbeks in the south of Kyrgyzstan, Bakiyev's former stronghold. The riots claimed the lives of some 300 people, according to official figures. Kyrgyz officials say the real death toll may exceed 2,000.

 

BISHKEK, September 14 (RIA Novosti)

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