The verdicts of two primary courts are yet to be implemented on two new lawmakers in the Wolesi Jirga, the Lower House of the Parliament, who have been sentenced to prison on graft charges.
Mirza Mohammad Katawazi, an MP from Paktika, was sentenced to five years in prison by a primary court of Kabul in 2015 on charges of forging car silence and vehicle number plates. He was not in the court when the verdict was announced.
Major Gen. Ahmad Zia Yaftali, former head of the Afghan National Armys Health Department and an MP from Badakhshan, was sentenced to six months in prison last week by the Anti-Corruption Criminal Justice Centers primary court. He was also absent in the hearing.
"Any decision which the judicial sector makes, we should accept. We should respect Afghanistans judicial centers and the Supreme Court. If I am accused of committing a crime, the judicial sector will make a decision regarding me," said Allah Gul Mujahid, an MP from Kabul.
"Afghanistans legal and judicial centers, chairman of the Supreme Court, members of the Supreme Court and the Attorney Generals Office exactly belong to them (the MPs). They (MPs) vote to them and they support the MPs in turn," said Ramazan Bashardost, an MP from Kabul.
Officials from the Ministry of Interior and Attorney Generals Office meanwhile said they have not received any official letter from the courts based on which they should implement the verdicts on the two MPs.
The Attorney General Office spokesman Jamshed Rasuli said the verdicts will be implemented anytime they receive official letters from the respective courts.
Arash Shaheer, a lawyer, said the verdict should be implemented on the lawmakers.
"No one is above the law, even the MPs. In Article 102 of the Constitution, it has been clearly mentioned that if a member of the parliament commits a crime and the crime is evident, he or she will be arrested and will be deprived of freedom," he said.
LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/11171
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