DUSHANBE, January 29, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- Marouf Nouriddinov, a judge at the court of Dushanbe’s  Firdavsi district, has reputedly been caught in bribe taking.

According to the Agency for State Financial Control and Combating Corruption, the judge demanded 2,000 U.S. dollars from local resident for preparation of documents for granting amnesty to his relative.  “Nouriddinov asked to convey money to him in the city of Qurghon Teppa and he was caught red-handed when he was taking the bribe,” the source said.Criminal proceedings have been instituted against Nouriddinov under the provisions of Article 319, Par 4 of Tajikistan’s Penal Code – bribery.  Investigation is under way.

We will recall that the anticorruption director Fattoh Saidov told reporters on January 26 that the agency officers detected 902 corruption-related crimes in 2009, including 372 cases of embezzlement of state funds and fraud and 162 cases of bribery.  More than 84 officers from the law enforcement agencies, power-wielding structures and judicial system were convicted for corruption last year.