Ex-corrupt officials to face courts if they seized public assets: Mujahid

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), say they will not hold former Afghan officials accountable for the massive corruption that derailed donor-funded development projects and contributed to the collapse of the former Afghan Republic, VOA reported.

“Those who nurtured and enriched themselves during the previous invasion and from the U.S.’s system own their properties and assets and it will remain so,” IEA spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told VOA’s Pashto Service.

Former officials suspected of corruption will face courts, Mujaid said, only if they seized private properties or public assets during the past two decades.

Asked about properties some former Afghan officials might have acquired via corrupt practices in the former Afghan government, Mujahid said, “individuals who abused the previous system” would not face legal accountability and will keep their wealth.

Bankrolled by foreign donors, the former Afghan Republic was consistently ranked among the five most corrupt states in the world, VOA reported.

From 2002 to 2021, the U.S. spent more than $145 billion on reconstruction and development projects in Afghanistan while other donors such as the European Union also channeled billions of dollars for the same purposes.