BISHKEK. Feb 21 (Interfax) - Former Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev will be arrested if he returns to Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov said on Tuesday.
"There is a court order regarding [Kurmanbek] Bakiyev. He will be taken into custody if he comes back. We must obey court orders," Japarov said in an interview with the Kyrgyz news agency Kabar.
The meeting of all former Kyrgyz presidents, organized in Dubai on February 18, aimed at "unification," Japarov said. "Such meetings will be continued with all politicians in the country," he said.
On February 18, Japarov said he met with all former presidents of Kyrgyzstan. "A heartbreaking dream about the future of the country came true - for the sake of eternal solidarity of our people, I brought together the former presidents and put them at the same table. [...] What is the current state of the ancient Kyrgyz people, who created great empires and populated the Eurasian space? We are losing our former empire due to fragmentation and power struggles. For the sake of the future of the nation, former presidents renounced their past and supported the initiative to unite into one fist. They voiced their grievances, acknowledged their shortcomings. Most importantly, they were able to forgive each other. This was my goal," he said.
Japarov urged the fellow citizens to forget about grudges for the sake of strengthening Kyrgyzstan's sovereignty. "If we want to strengthen our sovereignty and independence and to develop our Kyrgyzstan, which has every chance to develop, let us set aside the past, the grudges and the complaints. All Kyrgyz people must unite. Let us not think about personal interests for five to ten years, and let us think about the eternal interests of Kyrgyzstan instead," he said then.
Former Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev lost his office and fled the country after opposition protests in the center of Bishkek on April 7, 2010. On that day, over 80 people were killed and about 300 were wounded in the Kyrgyz capital.
Bakiyev and his brother Zhanybek (Zhanysh), who currently live in Belarus, were found guilty of complicity with mass murder on April 7 and sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment. Later on, Bakiyev's sentence was changed to 30 years in prison.