Three members of the Meshrano Jirga, the Upper House of the Afghan Parliament, have each been sentenced to ten years and one month in prison for accepting $ 40,000 in bribes from officials of the customs service in Balkh province, north of the country, as reported by the Afghan Attorney General’s Office.
Senators, Mohamed Anwar Bashliq, Mohamed Azim Qoyash and Liyaqatulá Babakarkhil had originally asked for $ 60,000 in bribes from customs officials in Hairatan port. They were finally arrested last year after receiving $ 40,000 of that amount.
The Afghan Senate has reported that the three convicts were members of the Senate economy committee and had traveled as part of a team to the city of Mazar e Sharif in Balkh to monitor the security and economic situation in the province, especially activities from the customs office.
The senators were also fined $ 40,000, according to the Prosecutor’s Office, in a conviction that follows a similar one against the mayor of Herat and six other high-ranking officials, each sentenced to three years in prison by the Anti-Corruption Justice Center and were fined $ 75,000, according to the Attorney General’s Office, in a statement collected by Tolo News.
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