‘Appeals’ upholds citizen’s 5-year jail term – Saudi sentenced to four years in absentia

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KUWAIT CITY, May 9: The Court of Appeals upheld the verdict issued by the Court of First Instance, which sentenced a Kuwaiti citizen Salem Al-Dousari a.k.a., Abu Refah to fiveyear imprisonment with hard labor and confiscation of his mobile phone, in a State Security case filed against him for allegedly insulting His Highness the Amir.

The court ordered the arrest of the suspect, referring him to the Psychiatric Medicine Hospital for medical tests to ascertain his level of sanity. According to the case file, the suspect allegedly made statements deemed insulting to the entity of His Highness the Amir through the Snapchat app. Results of the psychiatric test revealed that the man was consciously responsible for his action. During the court session, the defendant pleaded that he will never repeat such an action, saying some Iraqis and Libyans instigated him into carrying out the unruly action. He said those people were supporting him with money and liquor to make him misbehave, because he was suffering from psychological disorder and was not taking the prescribed medicines.

Meanwhile, the Criminal Court has sentenced an unidentified Saudi to four years imprisonment with hard labor, in absentia, for obtaining the Kuwaiti citizenship through forgery and fraudulent means, reports Al-Rai daily.

The Saudi is said to have used his forged Kuwaiti citizenship to obtain a bank loan, a government house, a government job and marriage allowance. The Saudi although got the Kuwaiti citizenship through forgery, he allegedly used his Saudi ID to enter and exit the country. When he was searched at a border post after his arrest, police found on him two IDs – Kuwaiti and Saudi. When asked to name his Kuwaiti brothers, he admitted he does not know any of them. He also admitted that he obtained the citizenship by forgery. In the meantime, the Court of Appeals has affirmed the right of a police officer with the rank of colonel to add the number of years he studied at Sa’ad Al-Abdullah Academy for Security Sciences to his total service period at the Ministry of Interior and to use this period as basis for the calculation of his indemnity.

By Jaber Al-Hamoud Al-Seyassah Staff and Agencies

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