Before the early presidential elections, Sadyr Japarov received $ 10 million from Sooronbai Jeenbekov and his brother Asylbek Jeenbekov. Melis Aspekov stated in a letter that he handed over from the remand prison of the State Committee for National Security, where he is being kept under arrest on bribe extortion charges.
According to him, after the October events in 2020, he began to demand from Sadyr Japarov fulfillment of these promises.
«I demanded denunciation of the agreement on Kumtor, nationalization of 50 percent of shares of the company developing Jerooy field, adoption of a law on lustration, fight against corruption, especially in the energy sector and the State Customs Service, to draw a line under the plane crash in Dacha SU, to hold the Jeenbekovs accountable. Sadyr Japarov promised that everything would be done after the elections and offered me to head the election campaign headquarters for Chui region,» Melis Aspekov states.
According to the arrested activist, $ 1 million was allocated to the headquarters for Chui region for the election campaign.
«Japarov said that he needed a trusted person to control the expenses of the headquarters. He noted that if he does not win the race, he would be jailed, so he must win in the first round. During the campaign, Sadyr Japarov personally gave me $ 1 million, dividing it into three parts. To prove my words, I publish copies of passports and receipts of money by the district coordinators,» Melis Aspekov writes.
He notes that $ 1 million in cash is only a part of the expenses.
«We received tonnes of fuel and lubricants. We worked with public organizations, movements, diasporas, young leaders. None of them collaborates for free. I thought that taxes would be paid on election expenses. But the republican headquarters of Japarov openly announced only 40 million soms spent on the campaigning. I asked Sadyr about this, if everything is open, then the people will ask where we got the money from, and they will just finish us off,» Melis Aspekov tells. «He openly said that he had received $ 10 million from the Jeenbekovs. At least $ 1 million was spent on each region, and 2 millions were spent in Issyk-Kul alone. One million has been spent in cities of Bishkek and Osh each,» Melis Aspekov says.
Melis Aspekov and Ulan Dzhuraev were detained on suspicion of extortion of $ 250,000 from officials of Kyrgyz Temir Zholu state enterprise in early January 2021. According to the investigation, they, posing as close associates of Sadyr Japarov, threatened to conduct an inspection of the state-owned enterprise by the State Service for Combating Economic Crimes and organize rallies against the leadership. Ulan Dzhuraev was placed under house arrest.
This criminal case has already been sent to the court. It is not yet known when the first hearing will begin. It is clear that Melis Aspekov rolled the dice, claiming violations during the election campaign by presidential candidate Sadyr Japarov and his team. The spokeswoman for the head of state Galina Baiterek has not yet commented on such serious accusations by Sadyr Japarov’s former associate. Obviously, they will be refuted.
It is worth noting that, being a member of Sadyr Japarov’s inner circle, Melis Aspekov himself, prior to his arrest, had never publicly voiced the demands he wrote about in his letter from the SCNS remand prison.
