Afghanistan is to set up a special court to try corrupt ministers, the attorney general said on Saturday, as international pressure builds on President Hamid Karzai to act against graft. The president "will certainly be giving instruction to the Supreme Court" to proceed with the plan, Attorney General Ishaq Alako told reporters. "Everyone knows that in Afghanistan, corruption is at a peak," he said.
Alako added that "ministers who were previously in cabinet" are allegedly involved in graft and those found guilty will have to pay back misused funds and will be sent to prison, he said. Huge fraud that marred Afghanistan's August 20 presidential election highlighted the scale of government corruption and Karzai, to be sworn in on November 19, is being warned by foreign leaders that he must act against it.
Under the constitution, ministers cannot be tried by the regular judicial system. The country is separately developing a special anti-corruption court for non-ministerial offenders. The attorney general spoke of trying to eliminate corruption within six months to boost morale and "give hope to people."
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