KUWAIT CITY, March 16: The Criminal Court presided over by Judge Faisal Al-Harbi acquitted a Syrian man who was accused of fraudulently acquiring Kuwaiti citizenship, and embezzling public funds.

The court decided to drop the charges against the main defendant as he was deceased. According to the case file, investigations conducted by detectives in the General Department for Citizenship and Passport Affairs revealed that a Kuwaiti citizen (the main defendant) included the “fake” name of a Syrian man (second defendant) in his citizenship file as his son before he died.

The addition of the second defendant’s name in the file of the deceased citizen (the main defendant) occurred when the latter agreed with his brother to list his son, who was in Syria, in his citizenship file in exchange for sums of money. After the name was included, a visit visa was issued for the defendant to come to Kuwait where he was given a new identity which enabled him to be issued with the citizenship documents. The defendant ended up working in Ministry of Interior as a police officer.

Verdict upheld: The Court of Appeals upheld verdict of the Administrative Court, which ordered granting KD 3,000 compensation to a department director at the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET) for damages incurred due to a wrong decision taken by director general of the authority. According to Attorney Ali Al- Wawan, his client filed a lawsuit against the administrative decision to second him to another department, which he considered legally wrong. He explained that after 10 years as director, he should have been transferred rather than seconded. He said his client tried to settle the issue amicably through a letter of complaint, but the authority remained adamant.

Decision nullified: The Court of Appeals nullified decision of the Ministry of Justice to reject nomination of a law graduate as prosecutor and ordered his appointment after ascertaining his excellence. In a similar verdict, the Administrative Court instructed the Fatwa and Legislation Department to appoint seven law graduates as lawyers in the department as they were wrongfully excluded from the appointment process. Lawyer for the appellants, Attorney Mohammad Al-Ansari, disclosed the court ordered that his clients be employed without canceling previous appointments.

Arrest ordered: The Ministry of Interior has announced the arrest of three Arabs after a video clip went viral, showing that they sprayed certain materials on vehicles in Jaber Al Ahmad. In a press statement, the ministry disclosed the video clip, which was uploaded on various social networking platforms, showed the three Arabs spraying cleaning materials and various waste on vehicles. They were referred to Jaber Al- Ahmad Police Station while the waste materials were referred to the Criminal Laboratory for analysis and to take necessary action against the three Arabs.

By Jaber Al-Hamoud Al-Seyassah Staff and Agencies