Why were the investigations halted?: Al-Barrak
KUWAIT CITY: A lawmaker has intervened in the case of Colonel Shorki Al-Najjar, who has been accused of assaulting a young woman, reports Al-Rai daily quoting MP Mus-allam Al-Barrak.
Al-Barrak pointed out corrupt senior officials in other countries have been involved in certain irregularities but only the Kuwaiti Interior Ministry exerts tremendous efforts to protect the erring official. He asked the ministry on the steps it has taken regarding the case, especially since there is an eyewitness. He wants to know if the ministry handled the situation properly in accordance with the law and the Constitution.
"Why were the investigations halted? What are the ministry's reasons for not referring the official to Forensics to take a sample of his blood to prove his innocence? Is this not an attempt to cover up the case? If there is a person walking on the street without harming anyone but it turned out he is under the influence of alcohol, won't he be arrested and referred to Forensics? What about the senior official, who thinks he owns the road while hiding in his military uniform?" the lawmaker added.
He also accused the ministry and its minister of hiding evidence, asserting the case has become merely an administrative issue, instead of conducting a thorough investigation.
Meanwhile, Al-Watan Arabic daily has quoted MP Daifallah Buramiya as saying no one is above the law.
He argued the Kuwaiti laws do not differentiate between senior officials and ordinary people yet the ministry makes it appear that its officials are 'untouchables.' He said this will not be the last case of its kind if the government remains unable to get rid of the corrupt senior officials, warning against any attempt to hide the truth.
MP Jamaan Al-Harbash called for the punishment of all those involved in the case, including those who interfered to protect the official.
Moreover, Al-Rai daily has reported that the young woman had a relationship with the colonel for one year and their dispute was personal.
She said they were walking from the Yachts Club to the Kuwait International Fair Grounds in a dark area when she began to scream for help especially when Al-Najjar grabbed her bag but nobody helped her.
She also called the Operations Room at the ministry but no officer paid attention to her but she managed to open the car door and escaped.
After that someone saw her and stopped to help her. He even took her to the police station but he refused to get involved in the case for fear of his life. Another car stopped with two women but Al-Najjar allegedly asked them to leave.
However, the two women came back at the same time the eyewitness, identified as Hammad, helped her and decided to take her to the police station. He also convinced Al-Najjar to return her bag.
At the police station, the officers were sympathetic and listened attentively to the woman. They registered kidnapping and attempted murder cases but a person wearing dark glasses, identified as Colonel Bu Hamad, intervened and convinced her to drop the case, while defending Al-Najjar.
The woman also submitted a medical report, confirming no lawmaker has put pressure on her to insist on filing a case gainst Al-Najjar.
She added she prefers to give up the case as she does not want to be spotlighted by the media and she received a cheque worth KD 10,000 and cashed it in a bank at the airport.
However, she later withdrew the agreement as she feels she is the victim, especially since the other party did not comply with their agreement not to spread the news to the media.
© Arab Times 2011
