Al-Nafisi acquitted in defamation suit in first ruling as HH Amir takes charge
Court sets Oct 19 hearing in ‘audio files leakage’ case
KUWAIT CITY, Oct 6: In the first court ruling issued in the name of the new Amir of Kuwait His Highness Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad, the Criminal Court acquitted Dr Abdullah Al-Nafisi who was accused of insulting the sisterly country the United Arab Emirates, in a State Security case.
The Public Prosecution had charged Dr Al-Nafisi that he, without the government’s permission, carried out hostile action against the UAE through posts on his Twitter account in which he insulted the UAE, interfered in its internal affairs, and insulted its rulers, which would expose Kuwait to the risk of severing political relations with the UAE, as indicated by the investigations.
However, the Criminal Court called upon all state institutions, especially the executive authority, to ensure freedom of expression and work on preserving it, as the constitutional legislator is above its worth and greater than it is, and has even elevated it to the ranks of public freedoms and constitutional rights.
The court also urged the members of the society to exercise freedoms and encourage them to deal with them with balance, as well as create the appropriate environment for the growth and development of this freedom in a way that makes it one of the most important constitutional gains.
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Oct 19 date set: The Criminal Court has set the session of October 19 for the trial of two police officers Sheikh Faisal Al-Salman and Nasser Al-Tayyari who are accused of leaking sensitive audio files belonging to the State Security Agency.
The two were released on bond of KD 5,000 each, and were banned from traveling outside the country.
Investigation into the case has led to the suspension of eight officers in the State Security Agency including its Director General Talal Al-Saqer.
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Case dismissed: The Court of Appeals upheld the verdict issued by the Court of First Instance, which dismissed a case filed by a Kuwaiti woman against her exhusband and the Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW) in demand for the issuance of the document of ownership for the government-allocated property in
her favor.
According to the details of the court summon, the plaintiff claimed to be the rightful person to sign all necessary documents from the concerned authorities in order to claim joint ownership of the property on equal share with her ex-husband, and she insisted that the ownership document should be issued in her name, without the approval or signature from her exhusband. She urged the court to order the concerned authorities to issue the document in her favor.
However, Lawyer Khaled AlSawa’e from Abdul-Mohsen AlQattan Law Firm urged the court to reject her request, because it was not based on any valid legal consideration and the plaintiff did not present any evidence to support the case.
❑ ❑ ❑ Acquitted in terror case: The Criminal Court acquitted a Kuwaiti professor at the College of Sharia and Islamic Studies in Kuwait University Dr Shafi Al-Ajmi and his brother of the charges of financing terrorism and money laundering.
On Sunday, the Public Prosecution charged Shafi Al-Ajami and his brother with financing terrorism and money laundering through illegal collection of donations for Al-Nusra Front in Syria.
The suspects denied the allegations, insisting that they only supported the needy in Syria without any contact with any military or political organization or supporting them.
❑ ❑ ❑ Official wins case: The Court of Appeals has acquitted an official in the Ministry of Interior from charges of defrauding an expatriate in a business scam after allegedly convincing the victim that it will generate huge returns.
Representing the defendant was Lawyer Tareq Al-Kharas who argued that the charges lack criminal elements as well as substantial evidence to prove that his client committed the crime as claimed by the plaintiff.
He also stressed that all the statements made by witnesses lacked collaboration and relevance to the case.
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Blogger jailed: The Criminal Court sentenced a Kuwaiti blogger to three-year imprisonment with hard labor for insulting the personality of His Highness the late Amir and spreading false news. The case hearing took place on September 29.
The Public Prosecution charged the accused with insulting His Highness the late Amir publicly by writing about the rights and authority of the Amir and publishing the phrases indicated in the writ of summon on his Twitter account as well as deliberately misusing one of the means of communication (a mobile phone).
Meanwhile, the Criminal Court acquitted in absentia a Kuwaiti citizen named Hamad Al-Haroun who was accused of managing a social media account that published contents deemed offensive to the entity of the top leadership of Kuwait.
According to the case file, the Public Prosecution charged AlHaroun with posting messages deemed offensive to the entity of His Highness the Amir on his social media account, and publishing false news.