Russia Arrests Accused Associate Of Ousted Kyrgyz President’s Son

BISHKEK — A close associate of Maksim Bakiev, the son of ousted Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev, has been arrested in Moscow, RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service reports.

Kyrgyz Interior Minister Zarylbek Rysaliev said in Bishkek on June 10 that Sergei Kostyuk, the former chief of AziaUniversalBank, was arrested in Moscow after a joint operation by Kyrgyz and Russian investigators.

Rysaliev said two more individuals wanted in Kyrgyzstan in connection with last year’s antigovernment protests that led to Kurmanbek Bakiev leaving office and fleeing the country were also arrested in Moscow.

Rysaliev did not specify the date of the three men’s arrests.

Kostyuk and Maksim Bakiev are wanted in Kyrgyzstan for alleged economic and financial misdeeds.

Maksim Bakiev — who was a powerful Kyrgyz official while his father was president — is believed to be living in England, while his father has been living in Belarus at the invitation of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka since he left Kyrgyzstan in April 2010.

Read more in Kyrgyz here

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