Bishkek expects extradition of June 2010 riot suspects from abroad
OSH. July 16 (Interfax) - Kyrgyzstan expects Russia, Turkey and Kazakhstan to extradite several people suspected of involvement in ethnic riots and clashes that swept Kyrgyzstan's southern regions in June 2010.
Russian, Kazakh and Turkish authorities are currently considering the requests seeking the extradition of ten people facing criminal prosecution for their possible role in the ethnic clashes in the city of Osh in June 2010, Osh Prosecutor Atai Shakir Uulu told Interfax on Tuesday.
Apart from that, Kyrgyz, Russian and Kazakh law enforcement agencies continue looking for another 25 persons suspected of involvement in and of committing serious crimes during the riots, he said.
Several of those who were put on the international wanted list following the 2010 events "were detained in Russia, but their extradition has suffered delays," the prosecutor said. "Our extradition requests have been denied on a number of occasions because these people have already become citizens of the Russian Federation in order to escape criminal prosecution. There are six of them," Shakir Uulu said.
"Another ten persons who were declared internationally wanted for participation in the mass disturbances have managed to gain refugee status and temporary asylum on Russian territory for a variety of reasons. That is why our requests for their extradition have been denied," the prosecutor said.
Kyrgyz Interior Ministry spokesman for Osh and the Osh region Zhenish Ashirbayev, for his part, told Interfax on Tuesday that 70 or so people were put on the international wanted list by the ministry after the 2010 clashes. Most of them are currently hiding in Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkey, he said.
"The Interior Ministry of Kyrgyzstan is still conducting more than 1,000 criminal inquiries opened after the mass disturbances in June 2010. However, 649 criminal cases were dropped earlier because the persons responsible for these crimes were never identified," he said.
The Kyrgyz-Uzbek clashes in Osh and the Osh region on June 10-15, 2010 claimed the lives of more than 450 people and left another 2,000 injured.
