MPs push for transparency in alleged abuse

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 9: MP Mubarak Al-Hajraf has unveiled his plan to file a grilling motion against Minister of Finance Fahd Al- Jarallah soon; clarifying that the unprecedented parliamentary-government coordination should not prevent the MPs from correcting errors if the need arises, if the public fund is in danger and the interest of citizens. In addition, MP Abdulkareem Al-Kandari said his plan to submit a grilling motion against Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Salem Al- Sabah in case the credentials of newly appointed American Ambassador to Kuwait Karen Sasahara are accepted remains on the table. He explained that he postponed the submission of the grilling motion given the hospitalization of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al- Jaber Al-Sabah. He added the motion focuses on important issues, which should be discussed and followed up by the head of State; citing the previous assignment of Sasahara in Jerusalem and failure to deal with several sensitive foreign affairs issues.

On the other hand, National Assembly Speaker Ahmed Al- Saadoun, Deputy Speaker MP Muhammad Al-Mutair, Secretary MP Osama Al-Shaheen, Chairman of the Legal and Legislative Affairs Committee MP Muhannad Al-Sayer, Chairman of the Parliamentary Priorities Committee MP Abdullah Fehad, Assembly Secretary Geberal Khalid Busleeb and Head of the Assembly Office Hanan Al- Deghaishem attended the recent meeting of the Office. They discussed the report of the fact-finding committee tasked to uncover the constitutional, legal, financial and administrative violations related to the special expenditure item in the budgets of the Assembly from fiscal 2013/2014 to 2021/2022; report of the committee tasked to investigate the legal, financial and administrative violations of the Assembly TV since its launching until fiscal 2021/2022; and violations of the Inter-Parliamentary Group from fiscal 2013/2014 to 2021/2022. The Office then decided to assign the Assembly’s Secretariat General to take the necessary legal and administrative measures as per Article 14 of Procedures and Criminal Trials Law number 17/1960 and Article 18 of Public Prevention Law number 1/1993. In another development, several MPs have reacted to the alleged illegal arrest and torture of a Kuwaiti citizen at the Military Intelligence Unit in the Ministry of Defense. They stressed that the citizens’ dignity must be protected as per the Constitution and the relevant laws.

MP Jenan Bu Shehri emphasized the need for the fact-finding committee tasked to investigate the issue to remain neutral to uncover the truth. She urged Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahd to suspend whoever is implicated in the issue until the end of investigations while asking the Public Prosecution to handle the case with full transparency.

MP Abdullah Fehad asserted that the dignity of citizens is protected by the Constitution, laws and religion; stressing no one is allowed to humiliate or victimize citizens regardless of the circumstances. He added he visited the father of the citizen in his house where he heard the story of the son, affirming he is closely monitoring the developments of the case.

MP Dawoud Maarefidisclosed that he heard a horrible story from the father of the citizen, identified as Turki Al-Anzi; wondering how many other citizens have been subjected to the illegal acts of the Military Intelligence Unit. He confirmed his commitment to follow up on the issue to find the truth, away from the fact-finding committees that usually distort facts. MPs Abdulkareem Al-Kandari, Muhannad Al-Sayer, Abdulaziz Al- Saqaabi, Abdullah Al-Mudhaf and Hassan Jawhar submitted a proposal for the Human Rights Affairs Committee to investigate the issue and submit its report to the Assembly within a few weeks. On the other hand, the Ministry of Defense affirmed the formation of a fact-finding committee whose members are from the Military Judiciary. It clarified that the citizen was not detained, as he was just summoned for interrogations on Dec 4-5, 2023.

By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh
Al-Seyassh/Arab Times Staff