British ambassador to Afghanistan Dominic Jeremy has said that fighting corruption in Afghanistan is a need not an option, and that he hopes the Anti-Corruption Criminal Justice Center (ACJC) will tackle major corruption cases.
 
“My key message for the government is fighting corruption is not optional it is an absolute requirement. The Afghan people demand it comes up continuously in the conversation that we have with the ordinary Afghans and civil society organizations and we the international community strongly support the efforts of the government to tackle corruption. Now it is the time to end the impunity,” he said.
 
The ACJC has made significant progress, but the UK expects that other corrupt elements are handled by the courts of this center, he said.
 
“I am expecting to see more and more cases of corruption going through the court. And I am expecting to see bigger cases of corruption going through court, what is really exciting about what is happening so far over last six months is that the concept has been proven and it is possible to tackle impunity,” added Jeremy.
 
Meanwhile, Mohammad Alif Irfani, general director of ACJC, has said that the ACJC will tackle two major corruption cases, in the Ministry of Defense (MoD) and the Ministry of Interior (MoI), once it has wrapped up an embezzlement case involving the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing.
 
“Corruption cases have its own complexities and its extensive dimensions, it is difficult to investigate it within one day, two days or one month,” he said.
 
“Up to 70 corruption cases are under investigation by the anti-corruption justice center; of these, ten cases have been referred to the court. Ten primary courts, two appeal courts and two final court sessions have organized their sessions and at least 34 individuals, including some high level officials, have been sentenced.”
But there are concerns that the ACJC is still facing challenges within its structure.
 
A source at the ACJC has said that the concerned body is still short of at least 50 attorneys.

“The scale of corruption is quite large, but the resources which have been provided to the center by the government of Afghanistan is very low particulary financial and human resources,” said Nasir Taimoori, researcher at Integrity Watch Afghanistan.
 
Afghanistan is ranked among the top eight most corrupt countries in the world. However many believe that taking on high level officials accused of corruption will help to curb the trend.