Afghan court sentences two ministers to jail on graft charges News
Afghan court sentences two ministers to jail on graft charges

[JURIST] An Afghan court has sentenced two deputy ministers and six others to prison on corruption charges, a court official said Tuesday. The case was the first major corruption case under the new government, since President Hamid Karzai [Wikipedia profile] made fighting corruption one of his top priorities after being elected in October 2004. The two deputy ministers, from the Ministry of Religious Trust and Haj, were sentenced to three years in prison and fined. The six others, all officials in the same ministry, received two- and one-year sentences. A court official said the charges related to the annual Haj pilgrimage to Mecca, but would not offer more details. Corruption has remained a major problem in Afghanistan [JURIST news archive] since the Taliban government was ousted by US forces in 2001. Reuters has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

No lynchings reported in US for first time

On December 30, 1952, the Tuskegee Institute reported that 1952 was the first year of no lynchings of African Americans in the United States in the 71 years it had kept records. Learn more about lynching and listen to Billie Holiday's jazz recording of the 1938 protest song Strange Fruit.

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On December 30, 1922, representatives of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and the Transcaucus approved the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR and the Declaration of the Creation of the USSR, creating the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). During World War II, the USSR would also annex Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Moldova. Learn more about the history of the USSR from the BBC.