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Three senators arrested in Balkh for allegedly accepting $40,000 in bribes
National Security Directorate (NDS) and the Attorney General’s Office confirmed Monday that three senior senators, from the Meshrano Jirga (Upper House of Parliament), were arrested in Balkh province and have been charged with accepting bribes.
In a joint statement issued by the NDS and AGO, the security organizations said the senators have been accused of accepting $40,000 in bribes and have been transferred to Kabul.
They said further investigations are being conducted.
Addressing a press conference earlier Monday in Mazar-e-Sharif, Balkh Governor Mohammad Farhad Azimi said the three senators had been sent to the province to inspect revenue offices but that based on intelligence gathered the delegation had been arrested.
This comes after a growing number of accusations of corruption have been lodged against members of parliament recently.
However, this is the first time either senators or MPs have been arrested.
Recently, First Lady Rula Ghani, said during a radio interview that some MPs were guilty of corruption – a statement that followed a similar one made recently by First Vice President Amrullah Saleh.
Addressing a virtual UN conference on corruption last month, Saleh also accused some MPs of being corrupt. He did not however provide names or details.
Corruption is one of the biggest challenges facing the Afghan government and government officials have repeatedly confirmed that the problem exists in all departments.
The Meshrano Jirga has not yet commented.