Kyrgyzstan summoned its ambassador to Belarus for consultations on Friday after images of the wanted former Kyrgyz president’s brother made near a restaurant in Minsk appeared on the internet.
"This measure [the recall of ambassador] was taken after relevant authorities on the Belarusian side ignored the August 21 note verbale concerning the presence of Kyrgyz national Zhanybek Bakiyev, who is wanted for serious crimes, on the Belarusian territory,” the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The Kyrgyz Interior Ministry said Zhanybek Bakiyev, a brother of deposed president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, and two other people – Takhir Rysaliyev and Rustam Saiduyev - were photographed “by eyewitnesses near an elite Belarusian restaurant close to the Belarusian president’s administration.”
All three are on the Interpol wanted list on charges of triple murder of the former presidential administration chief Medet Sadyrkulov, chief of the International Institute of Strategic Studies Sergei Slepchenko, and driver Kubat Sulaimanov.
Officials from the Belarusian Foreign Ministry and the Kyrgyz Embassy in Minsk said they were not formally notified about the recall of the ambassador.
Former president Kurmanbek Bakiyev and many of his relatives and supporters fled into exile after a mass uprising in April 2010 that ousted the president from power.
Kyrgyzstan has repeatedly asked Belarus to honor its international legal commitments and extradite Zhanybek Bakiyev.
