Getting Serious about Tackling Corruption: Afghan Attorney General to Indict Five Leading Politicians
November 19, 2009
Just one day before Afghan President Hamid Karzai is sworn in for his second term, the country’s attorney general has announced that he has prepared indictments against five top politicians on charges of corruption. It’s now up to Karzai to take action. NATO has also said it is willing to help in the fight against graft.
When Hamid Karzai takes his oath of office in the presidential office in Kabul at 11 a.m. on Thursday, the amount of attention focused on him will likely not be to his liking. Every word of his speech will be analyzed by the international community, led by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is currently in Afghanistan. Even normally reserved diplomats are doing little to conceal their high expectations. “If he doesn’t say anything concrete, or even names names, he will feel the wrath,” said one European diplomat. “And he knows that.”
The pressure on Karzai is immense. In recent days, a veritable parade of ambassadors has descended on his office. Diplomats are speaking of a “shopping list” that they have presented to Karzai, who has found himself weakened since the manipulated elections that recently returned him to office. They have made it clear to Karzai that he is expected to discard some of his aides and take concrete steps against rampant corruption in his country. Visits from Clinton and other leading Western politicians are aimed at upping the pressure.
Kabul’s justice department appears to have gotten the message. One day before Karzai is sworn in for his second term in office, Attorney General Mohammed Ishaq Aloko told SPIEGEL ONLINE in Kabul that his office has prepared indictments against five high-ranking politicians. “We have indictments with sufficient proof against five ministers,” Aloko said. “Two of them are in the current cabinet and three are former ministers.” The indictments have been submitted to President Karzai. “The president only has to grant his approval, then the trials can proceed,” Aloko said…
