Kyrgyz Lawmaker Detained For Bribe-Taking

BISHKEK -- Kyrgyz authorities say a lawmaker has been detained after he was caught receiving a $100,000 bribe.

The Kyrgyz state committee for national security spokesman, Rakhat Sulaimanov, told RFE/RL on July 15 that lawmaker Khajimurat Korkmazov is suspected of extorting $200,000 from relatives of former lawmaker Nariman Tuleev, who was convicted for corruption in 2013.

Sulaimanov said the Prosecutor-General's Office had launched investigations and Korkmazov is facing charges of corruption, bribe extortion, and abuse of office.

Korkmazov, 62, is an ethnic Karachai. He is the major general of police and a member of the Ata-Jurt political party.