There is anger among Kyrgyz officials after former Kyrgyz Prime Minister Daniyar Usenov was allegedly shown in Belarusian media reports as a Belarusian state agricultural corporation CEO named Daniil Uritski.
Usenov was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment in absentia in 2014. Ousted President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and 24 other defendants were also sentenced. Usenov was convicted of taking part in ordering a crackdown on Kyrgyz protestors that led to the deaths of nearly 100 people during anti-Bakiyev demonstrations that ended his rule in 2010. Usenov, Bakiyev, and others fled Kyrgyzstan after the government fell .
Last week, Belarusian media showed a man identified as Uritski, chief executive of the Belarusian National Biotechnological Corporation, alongside Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister Mikhail Rusy and Agriculture Minister Leanid Zayats.
The Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry summoned Belarusian Ambassador Syarhey Ivanov and handed him a protest note, the ministry said on July 28. It called Usenov’s alleged appearance "absolutely unacceptable" as he "is residing and conducting activities on the territory of Belarus" despite being sentenced to life in prison in Kyrgyzstan.
Usenov's ex-wife, lawmaker Dinara Isaeva, told RFE/RLon July 30 that she had not been in touch with her former husband for eight years but that she was confident that the man in the Belarusian reports was Usenov.
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