DUSHANBE, July 25, 2008, Asia-Plus – Over the first six months of this year, the Agency for State Financial Control and Combating Corruption has instituted criminal proceedings against 122 different-level officials, the anticorruption agency head Sherkhon Salimzoda announced at a press conference in Dushanbe on July 24.
According to him, they faces charges of abuse of office, bribery, and embezzlement of state funds.
Salimzoda said that more than half (69) of the mentioned criminal proceedings had been instituted against officers from the law enforcement agencies and power-wielding structures. Thus, 34 criminal proceedings were instituted against police officers, 6 criminal proceedings have been instituted against tax officers, five against customs officers, nine against officers from the Ministry of defense (MoD), two against border officers, six against officials with the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and three against judges.
Many of them have been detained and criminal proceedings instituted against them have already moved to courts, the anticorruption agency director said. He termed the case of Rahmon Sharipov, chief of the police directorate in Khatlon’s Rumi district as an example.
“Sharipov faces charges of abuse of office and bribery,” said Salimzoda, “The investigation has established 34 bribe-taking cases for 10,000 somonis and $12,000. Besides, more than 5,000 somonis and $41,000 as well as several unregistered criminal cases have been found in his house.”
Together with Sharipov, two other officers from the Rumi police directorate – Fayzulloyev and Yamoqov – have been detained on suspicion of having been involved in bribery, the anticorruption agency director said.
In all, the anticorruption agency has detected 504 corruption-related crimes over the report period, Salimzoda said. 108 of these crimes have been committed by public servants.
