Afghan Provincial Election Chief Arrested

KABUL, Oct 5 - Shahzada Hassan, the IEC’s chief in the province of Khost, has been arrested, according to Dari Daily. It quoted security officials.

In a press conference on Sunday the IEC chairperson Fazal Ahmad Manawi had said that they seeking the arrest of an IEC provincial chief who had allegedly been involved in election fraud.

Hassan, the provincial head of the Independent Election Commission in Khost, has been arrested by police after being accused by candidates and observers of taking bribes in exchange for important election posts, the New York Times reported.

The Times said that provincial police said they had detained Mr. Hassan at the request of the Ministry of Interior in Kabul, but Hassan has denied being arrested, saying he was staying at a police guesthouse for security reasons.

Pajhwok had reported back in early September that Manawi would form a delegation to investigate moral corruption charges against the poll panel's regional head in Khost.

"I shall appoint a team to investigate the charges against Shahzada Hassan. If the allegations are proved correct, the regional head of the election commission will be removed and referred to the Attorney General's office," he said.

Khost provincial council members had accused the IEC regional head of having illicit relations with female employees of the commission. The allegations have been rejected as baseless by Hassan.

Read more of today’s news reports in our daily summaries here.

[NYT] [TOLO]