By RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan and Frud Bezhan

December 22, 2012

A senior judge has been convicted of bribery and fired from his position after a perversion of justice exposed the invasiveness of corruption within Afghan society.

Zahoruddin, a 65-year-old judge in the country’s eastern Nangarhar Province, who like many Afghans goes only by one name, was convicted on December 19 of bribery and corruption charges stemming from a young woman’s divorce case.

Zahoruddin and another judge apparently became aware that Dewa, a 22-year-old freelance journalist, had filed for divorce and conspired to extort bribes from her in exchange for …

By Bashir Ahmad Ghazali and Frud Bezhan

January 02, 2013

SAMANGAN, Afghanistan — An Afghan prisoner serving 20 years for murdering his in-laws is now suspected of strangling his young bride during a conjugal visit.

Din Mohammad, who is serving his sentence at a prison in the northern Samangan Province, is accused by police of killing his wife when she visited him on January 1. Mohammad was convicted in 2009 of killing his mother-in-law, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law during a bloody rampage.

Mohammad has yet to be charged for the latest crime.

Samangan police chief Akram Bikzad said Mohammad’s 18-year-old wife, …