Khaled Al-Suhail

Al-Eqtisadiah



I have been scared about the police since I was a child and I recall one situation where I had to enter a police station either as a complainant or defendant.



One weekend, a friend called and asked me to help secure the release of his insolvent friend by signing an undertaking that he would not run away if released. The friend promised me that his friend, who was detained at a police station, would settle his financial dues early in the coming week.



Accordingly, I reached the police station and gave the surety to secure his bail and took him to my friend’s house. At the time, I did not ask myself why I was providing an undertaking for a man whom I did not know and what prevented my friend from securing the man’s bail himself? 



A few weeks after the incident, I was summoned to the police station and the officers demanded I produce the man whom I bailed out or pay the money he owed. They said otherwise I would go to jail.



I did not have any previous association with the man and when I explained the situation to my friend, he cooperated to resolve the issue.



I still hear of people who fall into legal trouble after they provided an undertaking for insolvent prisoners, only to endure great hardship as a result of their helplessness in shouldering the burden of such prisoners’ debt.



Out of shyness and modesty, many of us are hesitant to say no when such people approach us seeking assistance. But these people don’t have any shyness and modesty when they watch us drowning in debt or being sent to jail.



In conclusion, if someone approaches you to provide a guarantee so they can be released from jail, you must say no or you risk being stuck with other people’s debt.