PUL-I-ALAM (SW): Civil society activists in south eastern Logar have charged the local judicial organs for not conducting a single open-court hearing in the province for the past three years.
It was noted that many of the legal cases are processed behind closed doors that rise the doubts over the credibility of the legal system. Ehsanullah Mahjoor, a local civil society activist, said in this regard that many individuals get away with crimes by paying heavy sums of bribe. “Many political prisoners got themselves liberated by paying up to $ 9000, even those convicted to spend up to six years behind bars have managed to get their way out via bribes”, he said.
Another activist Samiullah Paiwand argued that courts in Logar do not invite journalists for the coverage that casts doubts over the fairness of the trials.
Dr. Musa Mohammadi, member of the local civil society organization, told the gathering that they have asked the provincial government on a number of occasions to hold public hearings and invite civil society activists to trials but to no avail. They charged that such unfair and grey court proceedings have led to the people’s inclination towards Taliban’s self-styled courts.
Addressing the gathering, Mohammad Haleem Fidayee, Governor of Logar, said that the Taliban’s courts are illegitimate. He stressed that the provincial justice system is working in accordance to the norms and laws. “There is a human law and a law of the jungle, whatever the Taliban decide lacks any investigation and justice, what we do has a legal base”, he said.
Justice Haqiqur Rahman Haqmal, head of the local appellate court, rejected all the allegations leveled against this body. He said that many cases are processed in private because the parties involved request privacy. “This is the basic human right of the people who fear their security would be undermined if the court proceedings are made public”, he noted.
ENDS
