Atambayev to fly to Moscow, unafraid of arrest upon return to Kyrgyzstan
BISHKEK. July 24 (Interfax) - Former Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev is planning to fly to Moscow on July 24, the Kyrgyz news agency 24.kg said on Monday.
Atambayev said he has not yet decided "how and where to fly out," adding that he is not afraid of being arrested upon his return home.
He is planning to stay in Russia no longer than for two or three days, he said.
On July 19, Atambayev told Interfax that he was planning to pay a visit to Russia at the invitation of his "friends." He said he hopes to leave from and return to Kyrgyzstan freely without risk of being detained.
Earlier on Monday, a group of investigators led by Deputy Interior Minister Mirlan Kanimetov arrived in the village of Koi-Tash 20 kilometers from Bishkek to question the former president. Law enforcement officers were refused entry to his house and left the village.
Atambayev received a third summons from the Kyrgyz Interior Ministry on July 18 demanding that he appear to be questioned as a witness in a case dealing with the illegal liberation of Batukayev in 2013. As he had before, Atambayev ignored the Interior Ministry's demand.
The Kyrgyz parliament passed a resolution on June 27 to deprive Atambayev of immunity from prosecution and stripped him of his status of ex-president by 103 votes. This happened after the Prosecutor General's office supported charges the parliament had brought against the ex-president.