Adasani says he will file to grill multiple ministers

KUWAIT: Opposition MP Riyadh Al-Adasani yesterday strongly criticized the interior ministry after detectives in plainclothes mistakenly arrested Madhi Al-Khamees, a well-known senior journalist, and manhandled him before apologizing after realizing he was not the man they wanted. Khamees, the head of the Arab Media Forum, said he was arrested outside his home in Yarmouk immediately after he stepped out of his car. He said two people attacked him and threw him in the trunk of their car without even talking to him.

He said he tried in vain to let them know he was not wanted for anything, but they continued to detain him and took him to Yarmouk police station. He said that he was detained for several hours before a police officer apologized and told him that he was not wanted for anything and let him go.

The interior ministry denied the account, saying Khamees refused to cooperate with security men and declined to show his ID. The ministry said in a statement that he later showed his ID at the police station and was immediately allowed to leave after it was found he was not the citizen wanted to serve a nine-month jail sentence with labor for issuing a bounced cheque.

The ministry said criminal execution investigators were monitoring the places the suspect frequented and were waiting for him in an open yard outside his house in Yarmouk, when they mistook Khamees for the suspect when he stepped out of his vehicle in the same place. The interior ministry also said an investigation has been launched.
Khamees however denied the interior ministry's statement and reiterated his story that he was mishandled and treated badly. He said he filed a complaint against the security men after obtaining a medical report detailing his injuries. MPs Mohammad Al-Dallal and Ahmad Al-Fadhl also criticized the ministry and asked why the security men behaved in a "savage" way when they only needed to call the man to come to the police station.

Meanwhile, Adasani said he will file to grill a number of ministers including the interior, commerce and finance ministers, and may also grill the prime minister. Adasani said he will file to grill Minister of Commerce and Industry Khaled Al-Roudhan at the start of the new term later this month over a dispute regarding the appointment of a chairman of the Al-Durra Company set up to recruit domestic helpers at a reasonable cost.
The lawmaker also said he will also file to grill the ministers of interior and finance over a raft of alleged financial and administrative violations, adding he may also file to grill the prime minister himself in the next term, which is the final legislative term in the current Assembly before general elections late next year.

By B Izzak