The head of the Kabul Bank special court has urged the Afghan government to take its findings seriously a day before it is due to deliver its verdict.
Special court chief Shamsurrahman Shams said Monday the court will hand down its decision tomorrow on the 22 defendants charged with being involved in Kabul Bank's collapse.
"The court which is a preliminary hearing will specify the fate of 22 defendants of the [Kabul Bank] crisis," Shams said.
"We demand the executive power take the court's decision seriously."
His comments voice the widespread mistrust of the judicial system in Afghanistan as court decisions are often ignored, especially when they involve high-ranking officials.
The Kabul Bank special court was a proposal of the Supreme Court approved by President Hamid Karzai in June last year. There will be two more formal court hearings before the final Supreme Court verdict is delivered.
Kabul Bank collapsed in 2010 after more than $850 million was wiped from the accounts in fraudulent loans and insider dealings. Attempts to recover the funds are ongoing.
The 22 defendants were all former employees of the bank, including the bank's chairman Sherkhan Farnood and chief executive Khalil Ferozi.
Shams said that another 13 people including bank stakeholders Mahmmod Karzai and Hassin Fahim – the brothers of President Hamid Karzai and Vice-President Marshal Mohammad Qasim Fahim – are also under investigation although they were not part of the preliminary hearing.