According to the report, Al-Nafeei was thrown into prison without trial for abusing a police officer along with some other teenagers.

Nine months then passed without any information about him even though the summary court in Taif repeatedly ordered the prison directorate to bring him to the court for trial.

While the youth was languishing in jail, prison authorities told the court that the youth was set free and he was with his father.

The jail authorities blamed the father for falsely accusing them of detaining the youth. On that basis, the court also accused the man of hiding his son. The Umdah (the district chief) of the neighborhood to which the youth belonged said he received a copy of the court order.

However, the shocking anticlimax came when the father found Al-Nafeei in the jail when he went there to learn what really happened to his son, the report said.

The youth was instantly released. He spent nine months in jail, a detention significantly more than the punishment he would have received if he was put on trial and found guilty. While the daily reported that a special committee was set up to investigate the matter, no official commented on why the jail authorities kept on denying the presence of a citizen in its prison.

The father said some people approached and tried to persuade him to settle the matter amicably. However he rejected the idea of a settlement.

Negligence of this magnitude, especially from security officials, is not a matter to be settled privately between two parties, the daily reported the father as saying.

A serious investigation should be made to uncover the officials responsible for the crime and they should be punished appropriately.

No citizen should be thrown into jail and left there for whole of his life without trial, the father said.

A responsible official giving false statements when a court orders him to produce an inmate is an incident that should not be repeated, the father added.

He said the concerned official told the court a summons was delivered to the youth at his home, even though he was in custody.

The police officers who confirmed the prison official’s statement without making any inquiry about the youth’s whereabouts should also be held accountable, said the father. Officers believed the prison official’s statement even after the man said he did not have any knowledge about his son’s release.

The prison administration should also be held accountable for displaying ignorance of who was serving time in its jails, the father added.

If the daily’s report is correct, the official’s conduct is deeply alarming. His conduct should be investigated in a transparent manner and punished if culpable.

Negligence is a serious crime even if it is not deliberate. In Islam negligence of duties amounts to gross disobedience that invites the wrath of the Almighty. An official, especially in the security sector, can ensure safety and peace of citizens only if he discharges his duties efficiently and sincerely. Citizens’ lives, property and honor depend on the security men’s sense of responsibility.

Any irresponsible conduct by a security official should not be condoned. I do not think the Interior Ministry, which is keen on imparting justice to citizens, would view any such negligence lightly.

The ministry does not want anyone to be kept in detention without trial. The rights of inmates should not be infringed upon even it is done through sheer ignorance.

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