Man Beaten after He tried to approach the president ‘Missing’

Monitoring Desk

HERAT: Relatives of Raees Zazai, a resident of Paktia who was beaten by President Ghani’s guards after he tried to approach the president at the end of his speech at a ceremony in Herat last year in December, said the man is missing for the past eight months.

Zazai, who reportedly had a complaint letter in his hand when he attempted to approach the president, was escorted out of the venue by President Ghani’s guards.

Days after that, the President’s media office published the photos of Zazai and his mother and wrote that they have been brought to Kabul to address their legal issues.

Zazai’s family said he wanted to hand a complaint letter to the president over their grabbed lands and properties. They said that since last December, they have not heard about Zazai.

“Where is my brother? What decision has been made on my brother? What did you give him? Mr. President, do you know about Raees Zazai? No, you don’t. Do you know about Zazai’s mother? No, you don’t. Do you know about his aunt? No, you don’t. You are aware of anything. I was jailed Mr. President. I was threatened Mr. President. No one heard me,” said Jihad Gul Zazai, brother of Zazai.

“His lands have been grabbed and he is subjected to oppression. He has been accused of different things. Once they accused him of kidnapping and then they accused him of insurgency. We do not know whether the government belongs to strongmen or to the poor people,” said Habib Zazai, Zazai’s uncle.

Lal Banda, Zazai’s mother who was transferred to Kabul with Zazai is now in Herat. She said they were shifted to Kabul to meet with the president to address their problems, but none of the promises were addressed.

“President [Ashraf Ghani] did not meet me and I did not see him. Someone else met with me and said my problem will be addressed within 15 days. Now, eight months have passed, neither I have seen my son, nor our problem has been addressed,” Zazai’s mother said.

Meanwhile, President Ghani’s deputy spokesman Shahussain Murtazawi said Zazai is at an NDS guesthouse and that his problems are being addressed.

“What has been said by Mr. Zazai’s family is baseless,” Murtazawi said in a voice message sent to TOLOnews. “Facilities were provided for him (Zazai) after he raised his complaint.”

He said the security forces are in contact with Mr. Zazai’s family.

The National Directorate of Security has not commented on this report. Courtesy : tolonews.com