Relations and Security Information Department's Director Brigadier Adel Ahmad Al-Hashash

KUWAIT: The Interior Ministry does not accept manipulation of the truth and making baseless claims, especially when there are documents proving this, a senior official said. Claims made by Kuwait Lawyers Society's Secretary General about a lawyer being insulted by a policeman at Sabah Al-Salem police station on July 12 are not true and contradict all documents with the interior ministry, Relations and Security Information Department's Director Brigadier Adel Ahmad Al-Hashash said.

He said footage recorded by police station cameras refute the claims that seek 'bogus heroism' at the expense of the interior ministry. He said an officer and a policeman were doing their jobs when the policeman asked the lawyer to wait outside so the officer could listen to the testimony of one side of a social problem case. The lawyer was not subjected to any verbal insult or physical attack, while the officer was able to solve the problem without the need to lodge a complaint.

But the Lawyers Society issued a statement in which they argued that the Interior Ministry mentioned wrong events with regards to the 'attack' on the lawyer at Sabah Al-Salem police station, "either because of ignorance of the law or of the attack itself." The statement alleged that Hashash was not aware of the full story, adding that "it was regretful for him to say in his statement that 'in case of an attack on the lawyer, he should have gone to the supervision and inspection department to complain or go to court,' which was done earlier."

The statement said this confirms that he did not refer to the concerned departments to make sure about the steps taken by Kuwait Lawyers Society. It added that the society already submitted an official complaint to the supervision and inspection department and a complaint to the prosecutor general.

By Hanan Al-Saadoun and Meshaal Al-Enezi