FILE - Afghan Local Police, ALP, listen to a speech during a ceremony presenting new uniforms for ALP at Gizab village of Uruzgan province south west of Kabul, Afghanistan, in this April 24, 2011 file photo. U.S. officials said Sunday Sept. 2, 2012 they have halted the training of Afghan Local Police for at least a month in order to carry out intensified vetting procedures on new recruits following a string of attacks by Afghan soldiers and police on their international allies. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili, File)
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FILE - Afghan Local Police, ALP, listen to a speech during a ceremony presenting new uniforms for ALP at Gizab village of Uruzgan province south west of Kabul, Afghanistan, in this April 24, 2011 file photo. U.S. officials said Sunday Sept. 2, 2012 they have halted the training of Afghan Local Police for at least a month in order to carry out intensified vetting procedures on new recruits following a string of attacks by Afghan soldiers and police on their international allies. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili, File)
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An Afghan man mourns over the body of his brother, who was killed during an apparent clash between tribal leaders in Kunduz, north of Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Sept. 2, 2012. At least ten people were killed Sunday after gunmen from one village killed the brother-in-law of a tribal leader in another, said Sarwar Husseini, spokesman for the provincial police chief. (AP Photo/Ezatullah Pamir)
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The covered bodies of Afghans who were killed during an apparent clash between tribal leaders lie on the ground in Kunduz, north of Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Sept. 2, 2012. The violence that left at least ten dead, broke out Sunday when gunmen from one village killed the brother-in-law of a tribal leader in another, said Sarwar Husseini, spokesman for the provincial police chief. (AP Photo/Fulad Hamdard)
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FILE - In this Sunday, Nov. 7, 2010 file photo, a member of Italy's carabinieri instructs new Afghan police recruits as they undergo riot control training at the Central Training Center on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan. The U.S. military has suspended training for at least a month of some Afghan forces while the Americans review the process of vetting new recruits following a spike in deadly attacks on international troops last month, officials said Sunday. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri, File)
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FILE - In this Monday, Dec. 7, 2009 file photo, Afghan National Police trainees with the United States Marines police mentoring program learn how to search a suspect during a lesson in Khan Neshin, in the volatile Helmand province of southern Afghanistan. The U.S. military has suspended training for at least a month of some Afghan forces while the Americans review the process of vetting new recruits following a spike in deadly attacks on international troops last month, officials said Sunday. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer, File)
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FILE - In this Thursday, July 14, 2011 file photo, newly graduated Afghan national police officers march during a graduation ceremony at a National Police training center in Jalalabad east of Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, July 14, 2011. The U.S. military has suspended training for at least a month of some Afghan forces while the Americans review the process of vetting new recruits following a spike in deadly attacks on international troops last month, officials said Sunday. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File)
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FILE - In this Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009 file photo, Afghan National policemen look on as U.S. soldier Cpl. Joseph Dement, right, from the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division helps train the police on how to apprehend a gunman at an outpost in the Pech Valley. The U.S. military has suspended training for at least a month of some Afghan forces while the Americans review the process of vetting new recruits following a spike in deadly attacks on international troops last month, officials said Sunday. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder, File)
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In this Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013 photo, an Afghan customer looks at clothes made in China in Kabul, Afghanistan. China, long a bystander to the bloody conflict in neighboring Afghanistan, is accelerating its involvement as U.S.-led forces prepare to withdraw, attracted by its vast, untapped mineral resources and concerned that post-2014 chaos could fuel its own Islamist insurgents. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)
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In this Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013 photo, an Afghan man who sells tools made in China cleans his shop in Kabul, Afghanistan. China, long a bystander to the bloody conflict in neighboring Afghanistan, is accelerating its involvement as U.S.-led forces prepare to withdraw, attracted by its vast, untapped mineral resources and concerned that post-2014 chaos could fuel its own Islamist insurgents. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)
Afghan refugee jailed for 'evil act'
An Afghan refugee who strangled his wife with her scarf in a fit of rage because she wanted a divorce has been jailed for 20 years.
Soltan Azizi, 48, has twice been found guilty by Victorian Supreme Court juries of brutally beating and strangling 33-year-old Marzieh Rahimi in their Hampton Park home in November 2007.
He immediately admitted killing her, holding out his hands and telling police he was "ready for the handcuffs" but later claimed he accidentally strangled her in self defence after she physically assaulted him and one of their children.
Justice Stephen Kaye said Azizi's account was totally unconvincing.
He said the couple's relationship had been hostile and strained and that Azizi had killed his wife in an uncontrollable fit of rage during an argument about her rights.
The court heard Azizi had told Marzieh's sister that she had changed religion and become Australian.
Marzieh had told several people she was frightened of her husband and wanted a divorce.
Justice Kaye told Azizi his wife had every right to expect his care, respect and protection.
"No husband has the right to strike or treat his wife in that way at all," he said.
"In her last moments Marzieh must have been truly terrified, being battered and then strangled to death by the one person to whom she ought to have been able to look for support and protection.
"What you did was a singularly evil act."
Justice Kaye said Azizi and Marzieh came to Australia as refugees in 2005.
Azizi had worked for the Afghan police but became the target of violence after the government fell.
His mother and sister were bombed to death in their home, his brother was tortured by the Taliban and shot dead in their home, along with Marzieh's three-year-old daughter.
Azizi was initially found guilty of his wife's murder in 2010 but won a retrial after the Court of Appeal ruled that some of the evidence was inadmissible.
Justice Kaye said it caused Azizi considerable anguish that he was separated from his five children who were now in foster care.
He said Azizi was socially isolated in prison because no inmates spoke his language.
Azizi was jailed for a minimum 16 years and has already served 1908 days.
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