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Defence lawyer: Diyani's case not processed properly

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KABUL: An Afghan Primary Court awarded 20-year imprisonment to the former chairman of Pashtany Bank, Hayatullah Diyani, for his alleged corruption here yesterday. However, his defence lawyer believes his case was not processed properly.

The court announced the sentence to Hayatullah Diyani and other three former employees of the Pashtany Bank for their alleged corruption worth millions of dollars. His defence lawyer and brother, Khalid Diyani alleged the case of Hayatullah Diyani had not been processed properly.

"The documents we posses can easily prove Hayatullah Diyani innocent. We believe his case has not been processed properly. There is also possibility of political interference in the case about which I cannot give any detail. We want the case be processed in open court with transparency," he added.

The Attorney General's office says they had been processing the case of Hayatullah Diyani and 13 other accused for the last one year. The officials say Diyani was involved in massive corruption when he was sacked from his job.

The head of the anti-corruption branch of the Attorney General's office, General Abu Bakar Rafi told the AIP that Hayatullah Diyani and six more employees of the Pashtany Bank besides seven engineers of the rural development and reconstruction ministry were trialled and awarded imprisonment by the Primary Court.

He said Hayatullah Diyani and three more workers of the Pashtany Bank were awarded 20-year imprisonment while three more employees of the Pashtany Bank and seven engineers of the rural development and reconstruction ministry were sent beyond the bars for five years.

"The corruption was worth $12 million and 742 million Afghanis. The engineers of the rural development and reconstruction ministry were also involved in the scam. Their case was processed transparently. But they can appeal against the verdict," he added.

Hayatullah Diyani remained the chairman of the Pashtany Bank for about four years. He was sacked from his job two years ago.

End.