DUSHANBE, April 4, Asia-Plus  -- Trial of Marouf Oripov, director general of the Dushanbe company M&P, which owns a chain of supermarkets Orima in Dushanbe and Kulob, that resumed today is nearing completion.  

As it had been reported earlier, the trial of Marouf Oripov began in Tajikistan''s Supreme Court on March 13.  Proceedings started with the reading of the indictment, which charges Oripov with giving bribe, tax evasion and forgery.  

 We will recall that at first, the State Committee for National Security (GKNB) instituted criminal proceedings against Oripov last summer on charge of giving bribe, but later, the case was transferred to the Agency for State Financial Control and Combating Corruption. 

Oripov was detained in July 2007 when he was trying to give $10,000 in bribe to the GKNB investigator.  Inspections carried out by the GKNB economic squad last July revealed that more than 1,500 tons of confectionery and other products beyond their shelf life were stored in the M&P warehouses in Dushanbe.