Ousted president charged with murder

The interim government of Kirgyzstan has formally charged President Kurmanbek Bakiyev with multiple murders and is to ask Belarus to extradite him for trial. The government is to hold elections in October, an announcement welcomed by European foreign ministers meeting on Monday.

Reuters

"He has been charged according to two articles: murder of more than two individuals and abuse of power," said Azimbek Beknazarov, deputy leader of the interim government.

The interim government accuses Bakiyev of having ordered the shooting of demonstrators in the protests earlier this month that precipitated his removal from power, in which 85 people were killed.

Bakiyev is accused of rigging last year’s presidential election, in which he officially won with 76 per cent of the vote. And he is also accused of massive corruption, enriching himself off the backs of the people.

As part of the criminal investigation into Bakiyev and his close associates, investigators said they seized a private zoo in a home of his outside the southern city of Jalalabad, in which there were several endangered species.

They found a pair of Tien Shan snow leopards, bear cubs, an African ostrich, four Indian ducks, golden eagles, falcons and peacocks.

There have been calls for Bakiyev to stand trial since he left the country shortly after being deposed. He most recently has been in exile with several family members under the protection of Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko.

"We will soon send a request to Minsk for his extradition," he said, adding that under international conventions, "Belarus is obliged to hand him over".

Foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Monday welcomed the interim government’s decision to elections on 10 October to replace the parliament and president.

The EU ministers stressed "the importance of an early return to public order in Kyrgyzstan under a democratic government that fully respects the rule of law and human rights."

The interim government also said a referendum will be held on 27 June on a new constitution, which will remove immunity for the ex-President, and would also forbid any party from holding more than 50 of the parliament’s 90 seats.