RIYADH: A man who crashed his car and suffered a fracture to the thigh was discharged with “bruises” and subsequently detained at a Riyadh Police station on the suspicion of drunk-driving. Fawaz Al-Nasiri said he left his house Wednesday morning to go shopping when he was involved in an accident in which he collided with a lamp post. “I was taken to a public hospital unconscious,” he said. “I was examined, and then they produced a medical report saying I had only suffered bruises and minor injuries. Then I was required to go to the police station because one of the officers who attended to the accident suspected I had been drunk when I was driving.” He said he was then placed in custody. “I could hardly move because of the pain in my right thigh,” he said. “My family found out what had happened to me nine hours later from one of the workers employed at the police station, and they came straight away and demanded I be taken back to hospital.” The police refused to release Al-Nasiri, however, on the grounds that the hospital's medical report stated there was nothing seriously wrong with him. Eventually an order arrived from the Riyadh Emirate to take him back to hospital. “This time they discovered I had a fracture in my leg and they also identified wounds which required 19 stitches,” he said. “The person responsible for the mistake should be brought to account.” The hospital that provided the erroneous diagnosis of Al-Nasiri's condition said that an investigation was under way to determine the responsibility for the report, while an official from the National Society for Human Rights said that it is setting up training courses to help police and other security officials ensure that laws are applied and that a system of guidance is in place for cases like Al
