| | Senator Slams Khalili's Letter to President Tolo
01/08/2013
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Senator Zalmai Zabuli, head of the Senate Commission on Hearing Complaints, said Tuesday that Vice President Khalili had misused his authority by sending a letter to President Karzai to protest allegations that he was involved in land grabbing.
The vice president's letter had called the allegations without evidence, but Senator Zabuli pushed back. Speaking in a press conference in Kabul, Zabuli emphasized that it was the courts that have accused Khalili's brother, Haji Nabi, of land grabbing in the Balwan area of Baghlan province.
"Mr Khalili has illegally sent the letter to the president," Zabuli said.
The vice president is implicated for allegedly misusing his authority to facilitate his brother's large land purchase.
Khalili's chief of staff Abbas Basir defended the vice president and said that every citizen of the country has the right to defend themselves against libel if they are illegally accused of something they haven't done.
"The letter that was sent to the president was legal and it is the right of every citizen to defend their prestige against false accusations," Basir told TOLOnews in a phone interview.
For his part, Haji Nabi denied the allegations and emphasized that he bought the land legally.
"I bought 500 acres of land legally in the Dasht-e-Balwan area of Kunduz after approval by three different courts," he told TOLOnews on the phone.
Vice President Khalili was accused of involvement in land grabbing recently. In response to the accusation, Kahlili sent a letter of protest to President Karzai and criticised the accusation.
"Freedom of expression is everyone's right, but it should not be used to lower the prestige of other people, and government officials should not be accused without evidence," he said in the letter, adding that allegations against him should be investigated.
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