Court acquits trio of carrying drugs

4-year jail overturned

By Jaber Al-Hamoud

.KUWAIT CITY, Nov 4: The Court of Appeals nullified the verdict of First Instance Court that sentenced three Kuwaitis to four years in prison with hard labor on the accusation of possessing illicit drugs for consumption purpose. The Appellate Court thereby acquitted the suspects of all accusations against them.

The case file indicated the prosecution was on a routine patrol along “Love Street” when he spotted a pickup van with bad rear side light. He ordered the motorist to pull over for checking and requested his driver’s license and car registration to prepare the citation. It was then the officer noticed a white container in possession of the motorist, which he later found to contain suspicious sachets.

At that point, the second suspect alighted from the car and took to his heels, while the first suspect hid a folded paper containing another suspicious green substance in his pockets. The third suspect could not provide any form of identification, and three of them were irrational in action.

Lawyer Abdullah Elanda defending the first and third suspects argued that procedures leading to the search and arrest of his clients were null and void. He said there was no reason to suspect his clients — not to talk of searching them. He agreed the officer was right to issue a citation for the faulty rear light but he exceeded the limit by suspecting his clients without any basis.

14 expats nabbed:

The Jahra police during a campaign have arrested 14 people for not holding identification documents and impounded four vehicles from reckless motorists, reports Al-Anba daily.

Police have also arrested 13 expatriates inside the Jahra Industrial Area for violating labor law and two street vendors and referred all of them to the competent authorities.

A Kuwaiti was arrested at a police checkpoint for possessing 13 sachets of meth and two cigarettes filled with hashish.