Kyrgyzstan's interim leader Roza Otunbayeva has condemned Belarus's decision to take in ousted Kyrgyz president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, warning that Bishkek would appeal to Interpol if he is not extradited.
"Kyrgyzstan's people may not react positively to Belarus taking in such a man that has the lives of many people on his conscience," Otumbayeva told reporters late Tuesday.
"Anyone who suffered from him thinks that there can be no refuge anywhere in the world for this sadist," she added.
"This criminal must be handed over back to our country. If that does not happen, there is Interpol," Otumbayeva added.
Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko confirmed on Tuesday that Bakiyev was in Belarus, ending days of uncertainty over the toppled leader's whereabouts.
"Bakiyev and his family, four people in all, have been in Minsk since Monday evening, as guests," Lukashenko said during an address to the Belarussian parliament.
They were "under the protection of our state, and personally of the president," he added.
Bakiyev left Kyrgyzstan last week after being overthrown in an uprising that brought a new interim government to power in the volatile Central Asian country.
He was initially in neighbouring Kazakhstan, but the Kazakh foreign ministry said Monday that he had left, without specifying his destination.
The interim government in Kyrgyzstan says it wants to put Bakiyev on trial for the shooting of demonstrators during the uprising earlier this month, in which 85 people were killed.
There had been speculation that Bakiyev would end up in Belarus ever since Lukashenko had harshly criticised the uprising in Kyrgyzstan.
Lukashenko, who was once famously dubbed "Europe's last dictator" by the United States, has ruled Belarus since 1994 and has long been criticised by human rights groups for tolerating no dissent.
