10-year jail to fine in case of fraud

Lawyer Hani Hussein acquitted

By Jaber Al-Hamoud

KUWAIT CITY, March 14: The Court of Appeals cancelled the verdict issued by the Court of First Instance which sentenced an officer of rank “First Sergeant” from Ministry of Interior to ten-year imprisonment and dismissal from his job. The court instead imposed a fine of KD 1,000 and cancelled the decision of the termination of his service.

Public Prosecution had charged the officer with embezzlement of the money he collected from traffic violations and falsifying the violation report.

The defense counsel Lawyer Ali Al-Sayegh expressed doubts about the investigations and testimonies of the witnesses, insisting that the pillars of the charges against his client are missing. He urged the court to show mercy on his client as the harms caused by the allegations directed at him are trivial.

Lawyer acquitted:

The Court of Appeals upheld the ruling of the First Instance Court, which acquitted Attorney Hani Hussein of joining Hezbollah when he appeared in a video clip confessing that he joined the group.

In previous sessions, Hussein appeared before the court and denied joining a banned group which is keen on destroying the principal system of the country. He pointed out he did not appear in any video on social media platforms as mentioned in the prosecution documents.

For instance, sources from Ministry of Education revealed that a student of a girls’ high school in Mubarak Al-Kabeer area found inside her school bag the head of a sheep bearing a written note in its mouth which said, “Today is the sheep, tomorrow is your head”.

The students in the classroom were frightened by the scene and some fainted. The school principal rushed to the classroom and ordered a school cleaner to put the sheep’s head inside a plastic bag and throw it in the garbage bin.

After hearing about the incident, the Director of Mubarak Al-Kabeer Educational Zone Mansour Al-Daihani, along with the acting director of Education Affairs and supervisor, rushed to the school and issued orders to refer the school principal for investigations.

The investigation focused on the fact that there was negligence and lack of supervision which allowed for the sheep’s head to be brought into the school and the classroom without anyone noticing. Al-Daihani blamed the principal for the malfunctioning of the security cameras, which made it easy for an incident of such a magnitude to take place as well as for her lack of effort in taking the necessary measures concerning the incident.

The affected student’s mother explained that she was on the verge of reporting the matter to the police in fear of the life of her daughter. However, the education department of the educational zone managed to convince her to settle for an internal investigation, and promised that the perpetrator will be found and punished.

So far, the officials involved in investigating the case have not found the perpetrator despite attempts to urge other students to name the culprit.

Meanwhile, statistics issued by Ministry of Education’s Psychological and Social Affairs Department reveal that schools around the country witnessed 33,000 cases of behavioral disorder during the 2016/2017 academic year.

These cases include 11,002 cases of verbal abuse, 8,465 cases of physical abuse, and several cases of use of drugs and intoxicants.

Agencies add: Egypitans swindled:

A total of 300 Egyptian families lost their belongings which they had shipped to Egypt via a company run by an Egyptian, reports Al-Rai daily.

One of the victims explained that they saw an advertisement for the transportation of clothes, electrical appliances, furniture and cars to all governorates of the Arab Republic of Egypt at a cost of 250 fils per kilogram. In addition, special discounts were offered for heavy shipments. After seeing this advertisement, a large number of people sent their belongings via this shipping company and paid the cost of the shipping. They waited for months for their belongings, but they did not receive them. The victim said he got in touch with other compatriot victims and they then met the Egyptian man who runs the company. However, the latter failed to give reasons for the delay, and he eventually closed the company and disappeared. The victims lodged complaints and lawsuits but the swindler is still at large despite the arrest warrant and travel ban issued against him.

‘Ruling March 28’:

The Court of Appeals, presided over by Judge Nasr Salem Al Heyd, looked into several State Security cases, says Al-Seyassah.

The court postponed until March 28, 2018 the issuance of its verdict on the case of a Filipina accused of joining ‘IS’. The Criminal Court had earlier sentenced the accused to 10 years in prison.

The court also ordered retrial on the case involving journalist Hamid Boyabis accused of spreading fake news and military secrets. The hearing is slated for April 11, 2018 during which the official prosecution documents will be submitted, as defense lawyer Refai Aloush informed the court that his client was acquitted in another case and that the good conduct provision does not apply to him.