Kyrgyz Create Group To Find Escaped Murder Suspects

The escapees are believed to have been involved in the slaying of parliament deputy Ruslan Shabotoev.

BISHKEK -- The Kyrgyz Interior Ministry has created a special investigative team to help locate three escaped suspects in the killings of a parliament member and two businessmen, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.

Ministry spokeswoman Gulsara Alieva told RFE/RL today that Jumabek Zikirbaev, Chyngyz Mamytov, and Ulan Kojoev killed a guard while leaving Bishkek's Birinchi May District Courthouse late on May 24 and managed to escape.

A hearing in their case had just been held.

Alieva said the suspects might have been aided in their escape. Witnesses said the escapees drove away in a car.

The three are charged with killing parliament member Ruslan Shabotoev and businessmen Bakhtiyar Jeenbekov and Igor Gizey in September 2008.