Court acquits man accused of driving in drugs influence
Dashti hearing Nov 23
By Jaber Al-Hamoud
KUWAIT CITY, Nov 12: The Court of Appeals presided over by Judge Ali AlDura’e overturned the verdict issued by a lower court which sentenced a Kuwaiti citizen to five-year imprisonment with hard labor. The court instead refrained from pronouncing penalty against the defendant who was accused of driving under influence of drugs.
According to the case file, Farwaniya securitymen were patrolling the area when they observed a man driving a taxi cab having difficulty in controlling the vehicle. They ordered him to pull over for an inspection and checked his status to discover he was wanted by the law.
He was arrested and referred to the concerned authority where a urine test proved the presence of hashish and morphine in his body.
However, counsel to the defendant Attorney En’am Haider alleged that the procedures for his search and arrest were unlawful.
Kuwaiti acquitted:
Haider
Court of First Instance presided over by Judge Rujaib Ahmad Al-Rujaib acquitted a Kuwaiti citizen of alleged possession of hashish and a mix of illicit drugs for consumption and sale.
The prosecution officer declared that he saw the suspect standing near a car in the parking lot of a cafÈ joint, and he approached the suspect and requested for his identification out of curiosity. The suspect fled immediately but the officer caught and overpowered him when he tried to resist arrest. It became evident that the suspect was disoriented as it was difficult to comprehend what he was saying and he also could not walk steadily. The officer found a suspicious item in his hand, which the suspect confirmed was a wrap of hashish. Further search revealed a sachet of illicit drugs and certain amount of money. The suspect lost consciousness when he was in police patrol car.
The defense counsel Attorney Talal Saber Al-Enezi accused the officer of misapplying law through unlawful search and arrest of his client without a warrant from the Public Prosecution.
Hearing postponed:
The Criminal Court chaired by Mohammad Jaafar postponed to Nov 23 the State Security case in which member of the National Assembly Abdulhamid Dashti is standing trial for offending the Kingdom of Bahrain through a statement he posted on his Twitter account and a speech he delivered at the United Nations. It is noteworthy Kuwait’s Foreign Affairs Ministry and Saudi Arabia filed lawsuits against the lawmaker.
The Criminal Court has set Nov 16 to look into the State Security case against former MPs Nasser Mubarak Al-Duweila and Dr Tariq Swaidan for using statements deemed offensive to Egypt and its leader Abdul Fattah Al-Sisi. The embassy of Egypt sued the two lawmakers.
Verdict overturned:
The Court of Appeals overturned the verdict issued by the Court of First Instance, which sentenced the Twitter user Rania Al-Saad to three-month imprisonment and fine of KD 200 for allegedly threatening Sheikha Fariha Al-Ahmad. The court instead acquitted her.
Sheikh Fariha had filed a case against AlSaad on June 14, 2014, accusing the latter of threatening her via Twitter social networking website to harm her and accusing her of not objecting to any hostile acts that the socalled revolutionists in Kuwait could commit in case of a revolution in the country.
Meanwhile, the Criminal Court adjourned to Nov 16 the case filed against the writer Saleh Al-Saeed and the Twitter user Rania Al-Saad for allegedly posting offensive remarks about the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Twitter website.
The Saudi Embassy in Kuwait had earlier lodged a complaint with the State Security Department against the two suspects. AlSaeed and Al-Saad were also accused of committing a hostile act against Saudi Arabia in a public place without the knowledge of the government, using expressions that could threaten the political relations between the two countries and deliberately misusing their mobile phones for this purpose.