Kyrgyz government wants to put ex-president on trial
By DPA, IANSWednesday, April 14, 2010
BISHKEK - Kyrgyzstan’s new government said Wednesday the ousted president of the central Asian republic must go on trial over the recent unrest that claimed dozens of lives.
Interim leader Roza Otunbayeva said ex-president Kurmanbek Bakiyev would not be granted immunity from prosecution because he has “blood on his hands”.
Bakiyev, who fled the capital for his power base in the south of country, has not resigned but said he was prepared to give up power in return “for guarantees of safe passage for myself and my family.”
Media reports said Bakiyev had agreed in principle to appear before an independent court, and justified firing on the protesters as a necessity to protect law and order.
The ousted president also spoke with UN special envoy Jan Kubis, who urged him to do everything possible to ensure the stability of the country.
Prosecutors have issued arrested warrants for Bakiyev’s brothers and his son, Maxim, on murder charges related to the deaths of more than 80 people in last week’s uprising.
The situation prompted Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to refer to the danger of a civil war erupting in Kyrgyzstan.
Medvedev, who was speaking at the Brookings Institution in Washington, said: “Kyrgyzstan is our neighbour and least of all we’d like to see (it) as a failed state. The most important thing is to prevent civil war there - (the country) is on the brink of civil war. And a civil war could attract terrorists of all kinds.”
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused the former leadership of “stealing nearly everything they could” when they fled Bishkek. Russia has given the new government $50 million in aid.
US special envoy Rover Blake also promised assistance to the new government, following a meeting with Otumbayeva in the Kyrgz capital. The US has an air force base in Kyrgyzstan, which it uses to supply its troops in Afghanistan.
Observers say that Bakiyev pushed impoverished Kyrgyzstan ever deeper into poverty through authoritarian methods, cronyism and criminally corrupt structures.
