KHUJAND, June 25, 2012, Asia-Plus  -- Deputy mayor of Istaravshan, O.M., who is also head of the organization of the Communist Party (CPT) in Istaravshan, has been charged with corruption after allegedly soliciting bribe from local resident who wants to perform the Hajj.

An office of the Agency for State Financial Control and Combating Corruption for Sughd province says O.M. was caught red-handed during taking 3,500 somoni from local resident for including him on the Hajj list.

O.M. has not been arrested because he is member of the Istaravshan city legislature (Majlis) and possesses the right of inviolability and the Istaravshan local council should adopt the decision regarding the repeal of his inviolability.

The Sughd prosecutor’s office has instituted criminal proceedings against O.M. under the provisions of Article 319 (3) of Tajikistan’s Penal Code – bribery; an investigation is under way.

According to the statistical data from the anticorruption agency’s office for Sughd, 32 cases of bribery among local officials were reported in the province last year.