Muhammad Musaed and the crimes of citizens
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The late colleague Muhammad Musaed Al-Saleh, in an old article whose meaning I still remember, expressed his astonishment at the keenness of National Assembly legislators to be strict, sometimes exaggerated, in stipulating very severe punishments for some crimes, which citizens rarely committed. He demanded that the sentences be more rational. Soon, citizens will commit the same crimes, which were once limited to others, and among them may be the children and grandchildren of the legislators themselves! “Abu Talal” was prophesying, but no one then, nor now, usually listens to what is written by the pens of sincere writers.
In recent times, the sentences issued to citizens have increased, which is a characteristic that “disappoints” them, and they have become major competitors to others, especially in committing serious crimes. Only recently, the Criminal Security Sector was able to arrest four people working for the Ministry of Education, and six others who ran accounts on social media sites that leaked high school exams. As it became clear from the events of the worst fire disaster that occurred in Kuwait, there were citizens involved in it. The Criminal Court also recently sentenced the president of a sports club to six months in prison for his role in challenging the integrity of a member of the judiciary. This was preceded by the issuance of an appeals ruling upholding the first-instance verdict, sentencing two citizens to death for their role in the killing of a third citizen. This was preceded by a death sentence upheld by the Court of Appeal against a family member for killing a citizen.
A final Cassation Court ruling was also issued against a former Minister of Social Affairs, the Undersecretary of the Ministry itself, and the President of the Federation of Cooperatives, to varying prison terms for their role in stealing public money. Five Kuwaiti males and females were also arrested at the airport, with one million Lyrica capsules in their possession, and two of the accused worked for the Customs, the agency entrusted with detecting drug smuggling! Let us not forget that those who facilitated, assisted, and participated in the forging of nationality certificates and disability certificates were all dishonest citizens. All of this is the tip of the iceberg, as laxity was comprehensive, overwhelming, and unfortunately continued for a long time.
While this article was being written, news came that a Criminal Court verdict sentenced a Kuwaiti doctor working for a government hospital to five years with work and enforceable labor, obliging him to return his salaries and fining him twice the amount, bringing the total amount he must pay to one million dinars. It is reported that he was receiving full salaries for a period of 15 years undeservedly, so where was the oversight of other citizens regarding his violations throughout this period? The prosecution also ordered the imprisonment of 27 people, including six Kuwaiti citizens, who were able to launder money worth more than 120 million dinars, and the majority of that money belonged to drug dealers, whose trade destroyed the lives of tens of thousands!
What we often need is not to tighten penalties in all cases, but to implement laws, prevent exceptions, issue laws to fill loopholes, amend old ones, and be firm, speedy, and transparent in application. As for what was stated by the Minister of Education that he would resort to striking those who failed the tests with an iron hand, this is not permissible in the state of law. Proper procedure requires, in any incident or crime, putting all the facts and data before the prosecution, investigation committees, and the judiciary, to issue a fair ruling, and not rushing to impose punishment on the weak, and leaving the strong aside, as happened in the incident of expelling thousands of poor workers from their apartments under the pretext of their violations of the laws, while turning a blind eye to the violator.
How wonderful it was to read the text of the Interior Ministry’s announcement, which prohibited the operation of delivery motorized bicycles from 11 am until 4 pm. Regardless of some opinions about it, this measure stipulated that non-compliant people would be subject to “violation of the conditions of the permit,” that is, within the law, without exaggeration.
By Ahmed Al-Sarraf
Email: [email protected]
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