Some Kabul residents say Abdul Hakim Sharae, the Taliban’s justice minister, operates a prison known as the “Stone Room” inside the ministry building and detains residents of Omid Sabz Township to force them to pay rent for their own homes or leave.
Sources told the Hasht-e Subh Daily on Friday, October 9, that over the past month, the Taliban justice minister has detained dozens of Shia community elders and Omid Sabz Township residents, forcing them to vacate their homes or pay rent.
According to the sources, those who refuse to leave their homes in Omid Sabz Township or pay rent are imprisoned in the “Stone Room.”
The sources added that some residents of the township remain in the justice minister’s prison.
This comes as, under the Taliban justice minister’s orders, residents of Omid Sabz Township have been required to pay a monthly rent of 4,000 Afghanis for each living room in their privately owned homes.
Meanwhile, according to Hasht-e Subh’s findings, the Taliban justice minister has transferred at least 72 houses in the Sanatorium area, also known as Shahrak-e Shadman, to his brothers, bodyguards, relatives and associates after their owners were forcibly displaced.
The Taliban justice minister is known to be close to Hibatullah Akhundzada, the group’s leader. He has previously been accused of insulting, humiliating, arresting and imprisoning ordinary residents and several influential Shia community figures in western Kabul.
