KUWAIT CITY, Jan 25: The Court of Appeals, chaired by Judge Nasser Al- Haid, cancelled the decision taken by the Criminal Court which sentenced 12 persons to jail for a period ranging from five to 10 years for stealing KD 1.5 million from banks.

The accused include two Kuwaitis, two Saudis, one Palestinian, one Egyptian, one Bedoun and some employees at banks. The Court of Appeals refrained from punishing the accused, allowed them to post bail of KD 5,000 each and obligated them to sign a pledge to exhibit good conduct for two years. The decision came after the defense lawyers pointed out that the role of the accused was limited to mediation between the real culprit and borrowers, adding the latter returned the loans in order to show good intention.

Blogger jailed: The Criminal Court presided over by Judge Mohammad Al-Mutairi sentenced a Kuwaiti blogger Mes’ab Al-Failakawi to five-year imprisonment with hard labor in a case filed against him by the State Security Department for spreading fake news. According to the case file, Al-Failakawi was accused of using his Twitter handle to spread fake news outside the country concerning Kuwait’s internal situation. His action was regarded as weakening the state control and detrimental to the national interests. He allegedly violated the rights of the Amir and his authority publicly and insulted the leadership on social media.

By Jaber Al-Hamoud Al-Seyassah Staff and Agencies