Mohammad Farid Hamidi has been elected as Afghanistan new Attorney General

Mohammad Farid Hamidi has been elected as Afghanistan new Attorney General

Mohammad Farid Hamidi has been elected as the Attorney General after receiving 200 votes of confidence from the lower house (Wolosi Jirga). On April 09, Mr Hamidi elaborated his work plans in general meeting of Wolosi Jirga. He said that he wants to prioritize the fight against corruption, making AGO a non-political administration, considering the wages of staff and hiring the cadres.

Mr. Hamidi said that he will use all the facilities and capacities to eliminate corruption from AGO. He stressed on fighting corruption and added: “The first victim of corruption is justice and rule of law. That’s why fighting against corruption is really important for AGO. From now on corruption at AGO will not be tolerated.”

The Attorney General said: “Making AGO a non-political administration is my responsibility to follow. AGO should implement the rule of law independently without considering any friendship or animosity in its performances. No organ or office outside AGO should be given the chance to interfere and make a case based on their own will. For this purpose the very first principal will be to make the justice and judiciary a non-political system specially the AGO.

In his speech the Attorney General also talked about ending the illegal and unnecessary imprisonment of people. Mr. Hamid believes that AGO should not only fight against crimes but also must consider not to take the liberty of an innocent individual. He added: “The specific time for processing a suspect or accused case should be considered. One of the important issues is consideration and valuing the innocence of an accused or a suspect until the final verdict of the court. Unfortunately, in Afghanistan this principal is not considered. Every suspect or accused should be behaved as an innocent until the final verdict of the court is issued. “

Consideration on the wages of AGO employees was Mr. Hamidi’s other important work plan he mentioned at the Parliament. Mr. Hamidi believes that no administration can demand a proper work from its employees unless it gives attention to their wages. He added that: "Unfortunately, our prosecutors are working with a very limited salary and accepting many problems. Meanwhile, Supreme Court in accordance with the constitution of Afghanistan has good privileges and wages but AGO is deprived of these privileges.”

Mr. Hamidi requested Parliament to consider this issue when drafting and approving the budget. He believes that by doing so, AGO will be able to recruit professionals and transparently fight against corruption.

In addition, Mr. Hamidi stated that the mechanism of managing cases should be taken seriously. He promised the people to create proper case management system to end the problem. He said: "By creating a proper case management system, we will be able to know where a crime occurred and till which stage the case processed. If the prosecutors delay cases of the accused then they should be interrogated. So we will be able to provide proper way to defend the liberty rights for the people.”

Mr. Hamidi also talked about cadre mechanism during his speech, He believes AGO must have the ability to recognize and recruit employees based on professional capacity, commitment and experience. He added: "All the people of Afghanistan must see themselves in the structures and Tashkeel of the Government. Through this way, we will be able to give a sense of ownership in connection to governmental administrations to the people of Afghanistan. People must feel that they are part of governmental administrations and they can feel how their desires and necessities are achieved.

On the meantime, the parliament thanked former Attorney General Noor Habib Jalal for his achievements.