Shunevich wants Moscow to extradite Kerimov

The chief of Belarusian interior ministry, who personally interrogated political prisoners in the KGB jail, demands the extradition of a Russian oligarch.

The Belarusian interior minister expects Russia's assistance in prosecution of Uralkali's biggest shareholder Suleiman Kerimov.

“Of course, we count on assistance of the Russian side,” Belarusian interior minister Ihar Shunevich said to Interfax on Tuesday on the sidelines of the meeting of CIS interior ministers in Astana.

“There's a general principle: try or extradite for trial,” Shunevich said. “We will find a legal consensus in any case. I am absolutely convinced of this.”

Moscow and Minsk “have relevant precedents; the only question is procedures,” he notes.

Answering the question if Belarus knows about a reaction of the Russian Bureau of Interpol to the international arrest warrant for Kerimov, Shunevich said:

“The national bureau of Interpol and the organisation's central bureau in Lyon are discussing the issues,” Shunevich said.

“The two national bureaus of Interpol do not exchange information and instructions, including procedural ones,” the minister added.

“The Belarusian National Bureau of Interpol receives information from the Central Bureau about accepting procedural documents and fulfilling formalities relating to putting a person on the wanted list,” Shunevich explained. “The Belarusian side received this information regarding Mr Kerimov.”

“We received information that Interpol accepted the request and posted relative procedural documents and the request on the websites of the national bureaus of all member states,” Shunevich said.

Interior minister Shunevich earlier worked for the KGB. As the head of the corruption and organised crime department he personally interrogated opposition activists arrested after December 19, 2010.