BISHKEK -- Kyrgyz authorities hope it's an offer potential corruption whistle-blowers can't refuse: a cut of the dirty money returned as a result of their efforts.
Under a law signed by President Sooronbai Jeenbekov on January 29, both police and citizens who report cases of official graft are to receive a portion of any financial damages recovered by the state.
Citizens who report corruption among the authorities in the Central Asian state will also be provided with protection, according to the law.
It calls for police who catch corrupt officials to be given 30 percent of any money returned to the state by officials convicted of corruption-related crimes.
Citizens whose reports lead to prosecution are to receive 30 percent of the amount granted to the police -- up to a maximum of 1 million soms ($14,300).
The law had been under discussion in parliament since 2016 in Kyrgyzstan, whose economic health -- like that of many former Soviet republics -- has been harmed by corruption.
Former President Almazbek Atambaev refused to sign the bill in 2017 and sent it back to parliament, saying it needed to be changed.
Atambaev backed Jeenbekov as his successor in an October 2017 presidential vote, but the two have been feuding for almost a year.
Several allies of Atambaev, including two former prime ministers, have been arrested on suspicion of corruption since Jeenbekov came to power.
