Court annuls ruling in drugs case against trio

KUWAIT CITY, Sept 26: The Court of Appeals has canceled the verdict issued in absentia against two Kuwaiti men and a Kuwaiti woman who were sentenced to three-year imprisonment with hard labor for drug possession, the jail term of two years issued against the Kuwaiti woman for possession of a firearm.

According to the case files, the arresting officer said he stopped the vehicle of the accused because of unlawful tinting of its windows. When he asked for the driving license, the driver failed to produce one.

The officer suspected that the driver was under influence of drugs, which prompted him to conduct a precautionary search during which he found a small nylon bag containing suspicious substances which he believed to be drugs. As he was taking the driver to his patrol car, he witnessed a firearm in the woman’s bag. He checked the firearm to realize it was loaded with six bullets.

Representing the defendants was Lawyer Nasser Al-Basheer who faulted the arrest and search procedures conducted by the arresting officer. He said the officer’s observation of the condition of his clients does not serve as a strong evidence that would warrant the arrest of his clients and the search on them without a warrant from the Public Prosecution. He said the blood samples taken from his clients were based on attempts to justify the illegal arrest and search procedures performed by the officer, let alone the fact that his sole testimony was not enough for the court to convict his clients.

Verdict cancelled:

The Administrative Section in the Court of Appeals overturned the verdict of the First Instance Court to reinstate Ministry of Health’s Assistant Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Dr Mahmoud Al-Abdulhadi. The court affirmed that the decision of former Health Minister Dr Jamal Al-Harbi to refer Al-Abdulhadi for retirement is correct. The First Instance Court had earlier cancelled the decision of Al-Harbi on the retirement of the assistant undersecretary and the consequences of the decision.

The court ordered the ministry to pay KD 5,001 to Al-Abdulhadi as compensation for damages caused by the decision of the former minister. It is worth mentioning that Al-Harbi issued a decision on the retirement of Al-Abdulhadi and Omar Al-Sayed Omar with the approval of the Civil Service Commission (CSC).

Man found with Alzheimer’s:

An Egyptian who found a Kuwaiti in pathetic condition handed him over to the Hawalli police, reports Al-Anba daily.