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Kyrgyz Investigators Drop One Of The Charges Against Jailed Health Minister

By RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service August 17, 2022

BISHKEK -- Kyrgyz investigators have dropped a corruption allegation from a list of charges against the country's health minister, Alymkadyr Beishenaliev, in a high-profile case alleging skimming and other wrongdoing related to vaccines and purported remedies for COVID-19.

Beishenaliev was detained in early June along with two subordinates on charges of corruption, extortion, and abuse of office as part of a series of corruption cases at the ministry.

Beishenaliev's lawyer, Kaisyn Abakirov, told RFE/RL on August 16 that the Interior Ministry dropped the charge of corruption linked to allegedly misusing state funds when buying vaccines against COVID-19 in 2021.

Investigations into other charges continue.

Beishenaliev was named health minister after a new government was established following mass anti-government protests in October 2020 sparked by parliamentary elections that many in the Central Asian nation said were rigged.

He was at the center of a scandal last year after he promoted a toxic substance -- a solution with extracts of aconite root -- as a treatment for COVID-19. Several persons were hospitalized after using the solution.

Aconite roots contain aconitine, a cardiotoxin and neurotoxin. Consuming aconite root can lead to sickness or even death.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/kyrgyzstan-health- minister-corruption-charge-dropped-covid/31992185.html

Copyright (c) 2022. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.