KUWAIT: A National Assembly panel said yesterday it will continue to investigate the death of a citizen with special needs at a police station even after the public prosecution said the man was not tortured or mistreated during his detention. The public prosecution said in its report that Ahmad Al-Dhafiri died after overdosing on pills that led to a complete failure of his main organs and eventually resulted in his death. The prosecution said it examined cameras at the police station that proved that the man was not tortured or mistreated, and the cause of the death is by overdosing on pills.

But MP Mohammad Al-Dallal, a member of a three-member committee formed by the Assembly to investigate the case, said the committee will continue its investigations. He said the panel will invite the family of the deceased or their lawyer to listen to their account of the case and will also demand a copy of the investigation carried out by an independent committee set up by the interior minister. Dallal added that the committee will investigate the procedures adopted during the arrest, detention and interrogation of Dhafiri to see if they were in line with the Kuwaiti constitution and human rights.

Opposition MP Shuaib Al-Muwaizri yesterday submitted a draft law proposing amendments to the public funds protection law and the Assembly's internal charter. The amendments call for clearly stating in the Assembly's internal charter the duties of the Assembly's public funds protection committee and also amend the functions of the public funds protection law issued in 1993.

It states that part of the duties of the committee is to study a report presented by the Audit Bureau to the Assembly about Kuwait's public investments. The annual report normally includes financial violations and comments and follows up the government's implementation of the recommendations made by the bureau. The amendment requires all bodies that invest more than KD 100,000 in public funds inside or outside the country to submit a report within three months after the fiscal year ends to the concerned ministers, who in turn will send these reports to the Audit Bureau.

MP Riyadh Al-Adasani sent a letter yesterday to National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem calling to send the case of a former lawmaker who admitted receiving money from the government to the anti-corruption authority for investigations.

By B Izzak