KANDAHAR CITY (Pajhwok): Independent Election Commission (IEC)’s deputy head for southern Kandahar province Haroon Kaliwal claims he was beaten and filmed naked at gun-point by two unsuccessful Wolesi Jirga candidates.
But the accused candidates alleged Kaliwal and other election officials were involved in widespread rigging and the video clip was ‘a plot’ against them to show themselves clean and innocent.
What does the law says about this?
According to Article 3rd, clause 2 of the Law on Combating Abduction and Human Trafficking, talking advantage of the victim’s pictures and movies or making pornography is crime.
Based on 11th article of the law, the perpetrator of such crime should be sentenced to a long-term imprisonment.
The criminal law’s article 874 says the perpetrator of such crime should be fined 100,000 afghanis and sentenced to two years in jail.
Haroon Kaliwal:
After the incident, Kaliwal went to Kabul and told Pajhwok Afghan News that Wolesi Jirga candidates Jamal Agha and Hamdullah Nazek and his brother Attaullah Atta asked him to meet them two days ago and physically abused him.
“Two days back in the evening I was taking my son to Mohmand hospital when Jamal Agha called me and asked me to come to his home and I told him my son is sick, but he said come for half an hour immediately.”
“I went to the candidate’s home and he told me that his votes were missing, I said you must register a complaint with the IECC, we were talking this as Attaullah (the brother of another candidate) entered the room with four bodyguards and started hitting me with fists and kicks and hurled abusive words,” Kaliwal continued.
Kaliwal added then he was tossed into a car and the candidates were asking him to increase their votes.
According to him, prior to the incident Jamal Agha offered him $10,000 through his brother Attaullah but he refused.
“The candidates took me to their guesthouse in Aino Mena area and gave me a letter to read out while I was filmed,” he said.
Kaliwal said the text written read that the IEC provincial head and the deputy had cut deals with some candidates to stuff ballots in their favour.
Kaliwal said: “I read out the letter with a pistol pointed at my head, then the four guards took me to another room and took off my clothes and started shooting me naked.”
Breaking broke into tears, he said: “Two of the guards tied my hands and legs and naked me for recording a video.”
It around 2pm when Kilwam returned home and called security organs and shared the incident with them and next morning left Kandahar for Kabul.
He urged the judicial and justice organs to put on trial the candidates for kidnapping, beating and abusing him.
Kandahar IEC:
Dr. Niamatullah Wardak, IEC head for Kandahar, said he had shared the incident with the main office and security organs through official letters.
Wardak told Pajhwok that not only his deputy was abused but also he had also been several times chased by strongmen and he had repeatedly informed the National Directorate of Security (NDS) department about the issue.
He added the Wolesi Jirga elections in the province had been transparent but certain powerful individuals tried hard to defame the national process for their own interests.
He stressed no one reserved the right to kidnap a government servant and abused him, but lamented no action was taken by the government so far.
Views of the accused individuals:
Pajhwok tried to contact Wolesi Jirga candidate Jamal Agha for his comment but failed.
But Attaullah Atta, brother of another candidate Hamdullah Nazek, who is also allegedly involved in the incident, told Pajhwok the IEC provincial head and his deputy both had stuffed ballot boxes in favor of specific candidates and they were involved in rigging.
He said they had registered complaints against the said IEC officials and they hatched the fake video conspiracy after being referred to the Attorney General Office to hide their crime. He also asked security organs to strongly probe the issue in order to ensure justice.
On the other hand, Syed Mohammad Hariq, a Kuchi candidate, claimed the Oct parliamentary polls were massively rigged in Kandahar in favor of some candidates and he had enough documents and proof to prove his claims.
According to Hariq, he had submitted the proof and documents to the organs concerned.
Officials: the issue is being probed
Aziz Ahmad Azizi, the governor’s spokesman, said the provincial administration had ordered the relevant organs to investigate the incident. He added the truth would be revealed after the investigation.
sa/ma

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