KANDAHAR CITY (Pajhwok): Cases of 84 prisoners in the jail in southern Kandahar province have been uninvestigated for the past eight years, appellant court officials say.
The authorities were trying to investigate the cases in a way to ensure justice, Appellant Court JudgeFazal Hadi Fazil said in an exclusive interview with Pajhwok Afghan News.
He acknowledged the cases of 84 prisoners in Kandahar jail had been pending since 2008. Information about the uncertain fate of the prisoners surfaced after the court appointed a commission to visit the Kandahar central jail once a month.
Most of the 84 inmates are security personnel, who are accused of different offences, including murder.Fazil said the cases remained pending in attorney office, which did not refer them to courts for trial.
“I was appointed to this position eight months ago; it was the responsibility of former judges to track the cases in time,” Fazil said, adding the issue had been shared with Supreme Court officials, who had promised sending a delegation to probe it.
The cases of the prisoners with unknown fate are now referred to courts for trial in line demands of law and justice.About judicial reforms, he said besides the appointment of a commission to hear complaints of prisoners each month, trials had also been sped up.
He meets court officers every week to resolve the problems they face in legal and criminal issues. A day in the week has been dedicated to evaluating public complaints and the court takes action against the officers who behave against the law with the people.
The judge said investigations into a criminal case had to be completed in a month, but the court did all it could to reduce the time to a week.The step was taken after a large number of people complained about delays, he said.
He added 103 judges and 111 officers had been recruited to the appellant court, but 50 of them had been working from Kabul against the law. He applied the relevant law to the 50 officers and brought them back to Kandahar.
About cases of political prisoners, he said some people grumbled about their. He also complained about lack of a computerised system in the court, saying litigants had to face inordinate delays.
However, Fazil explained efforts were underway to put in place a computerised database to accelerate addressing people’s problems.
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