A probe team of the Wolesi Jirga (house of representatives) tasked with the investigation of the explosion that hit the car carrying former TOLOnews presenter Yama Siawash on November 7, said on Thursday that officials from the Central Bank of Afghanistan--where Siawash was working--are still reluctant to provide the CCTV footage of his car.
The task team on Thursday said that members visited the Central Bank office on November 20; however, the bank official refused to provide the CCTV footage and other details--including the car tracker--to them.
A video obtained by the media shows that the door of the office of the Central Bank's governor was locked when the probe team arrived at the bank.
According to the probe team, the car which was destroyed in the explosion has not been transferred to intelligence agencies for further investigation, but instead has been sent to a scrapyard.
The attack on the CBA car resulted in the death of former TOLOnews presenter Yama Siawash, driver Mohammad Amin, and Ahmad Anas, the deputy head of office of the CBA governor.
“Who will assess it in a week if a signature is needed now—when you lose three of your colleagues, who will respond?” said Mohammad Nasim Mudabir, a member of the task team.
“A decision had been taken, the head of IT department told us to send your people along a letter at 9:00am to receive the video (CCTV footage), but now no video is available,” said Hamida Ahmadzai, a member of the task team.
“We have given one copy to the National Directorate of Security. It takes time, today we will get one copy, you please come later and receive one copy,” said Shah Mohammad Babak, the head of the IT department of the Central Bank.
“The debris of the car was transferred to the scrapyard by the order of the governor of the Central Bank of Afghanistan, now let's go to the customs so we can see the car,” said Mohammad Nasim Mudabir, a member of the task team.
No group or individual took responsibility for the attack.
Last month, the family of former TOLOnews presenter Yama Siawash said they had lodged a complaint with the UN Security Council over the current handling of the case into their son's death, stating that the Afghan government failed to address their demands to launch an investigation into the murder, or arrest the perpetrators who planned the murder.
In the complaint letter, the family of Yama Siawash questioned the approach of Ajmal Ahmadi, the governor of the Central Bank of Afghanistan, where Siawash was working.
The letter also criticized President Ashraf Ghani for supporting the approach of Ajmal Ahmadi.
Further, the complaint letter also questioned the CBA governor Ajmal Ahmadi for his reluctance to help identity the killers of Yama Siawash.
The letter suggests that there is a possibility that Siawash was hired at the bank to facilitate his assassination.
In the letter, Siawash’s father criticized Ghani’s approach to tackling the case, saying Ghani has the power to put pressure on Ajmal Ahmadi and the security agencies to share the evidence publically about the explosion of the vehicle carrying Siawash.
The complaint letter has also criticized Ajmal Ahmadi for not cooperating with the media and the Afghan parliament about the case.
In the last part of the complaint letter, Yama Siawash's father called on the UN Security Council to provide safe and secure conditions for his family to file a lawsuit in the international court against his son's killers, the perpetrator of the murder, and their supporters.