Associates of Kyrgyz activist Melis Aspekov, who was sentenced last month to seven years in prison on charges of plotting mass disorder, have published a letter in which Aspekov claims President Sadyr Japarov accepted $3 million from Raimbek Matraimov, the former deputy chairman of the customs service. The letter, which the activists published on March 15 on Facebook, says Japarov received the money in October 2020 when he was released from prison. Japarov's office has rejected Aspekov's claims. Aspekov, who in 2020-21 was at the center of corruption scandal, was sentenced on February 28 to seven years in prison for promoting mass disorder. (CORRECTION: A previous version of this story said Japarov was involved in the corruption scandal.)
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