From life in jail to acquittal in drugs case

‘Terror cell’ case perusal on June 1

KUWAIT CITY, May 26: The Fifth Penal Section of an undisclosed court, presided over by Judge Ibrahim Al Obaid, overruled the life imprisonment sentence passed by another court and acquitted a citizen of possessing 27 kgs of drugs.

According to case details, detectives gathered information about the accused and they set a trap to arrest him. A secret agent was then asked to buy some drugs from the accused, who agreed to deliver the drugs worth KD 26,000 in the desert area opposite Um Al-Haiman.

The detectives got a warrant from the Public Prosecution to arrest the accused. They gave the secret agent marked police money to purchase the drugs. The entrapment was successful as the accused arrived at the agreed point of delivery, so they arrested him and found in his possession the contraband and civil ID of a Saudi citizen. The detectives confirmed later that the ID belongs to the accused who holds dual citizenship.

Defense lawyer, Talal Sabr Al-Enzy, called for cancellation of the arrest citing invalidity and lack of seriousness in investigations. He also requested for nullification of the warrant from the prosecution as his client was out of the country prior to the issuance of the warrant of arrest. He produced evidence from the State’s entry/exit points that showed the accused was outside Kuwait before the arrest warrant was issued.

With regards to holder of the Saudi ID which detectives said was found in the accused person’s car, it was discovered that the holder of that ID entered the country in 2011 and has never gone out since then.

Al-Enzy also pointed out the inaccuracy and conflicting statements of the detectives.

June 1 date set: The Seventh Penal

Section of the Court of Appeals presided over by Judge Abdulrahman Al-Darmi has fixed June 1 to conclude presentations of the case 302/2016 filed against 26 suspected members of a terrorist cell.

During the last session, the court listened to the submissions of the lead defense team. The judicial panel, in a closed door session on April 21, crossexamined the remaining suspects after their co-suspects were cross-examined on April 20. The court directed the Public Prosecution on April 13 to address some government authorities for reports about some of the suspects. It also listened to the submissions of the defense counsels.