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Kyrgyzstan to extradite Uzbek refugees if criminal role proven: prosecutors

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BISHKEK, July 7 (RIA Novosti) - Kyrgyzstan's Prosecutor General said Thursday that the republic would have to extradite refugees to Uzbekistan if it were established that they had been involved in crime.

Azimbek Beknazarov said: "Statements made by a number of international organizations that not one of the Uzbek nationals currently on our territory should be extradited are unfounded."

"Those individuals have to undergo thorough, objective checks. And we will have to extradite them if it is established that they have committed crimes," said Beknazarov.

Beknazarov said the Kyrgyz Prosecutor General's Office had completed checks of 12 people. "Their extradition to Uzbekistan was only suspended at the request of international organizations," he said.

International organizations had asked a court in the Kyrgyz city of Osh to reverse extradition decisions on behalf of 12 Uzbek refugees.

Uzbekistan is seeking the extradition of 231 people who have applied for asylum in Kyrgyzstan. Twenty-nine of them are in custody in a pre-trial detention center in Osh.

According to the Uzbek authorities, all of them were involved in committing serious crimes and had links to terrorist organizations.

"As a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Commonwealth of Independent States, Kyrgyzstan must extradite people involved in terrorist and extremist activities and those with links to transnational organized criminal groups," said Beknazarov.

Beknazarov said Kyrgyzstan intended to honor its international commitments.

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