Kuwait Court Jails Two for 4 Years in Kidnapping Case, Orders Deportation of One

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 10: Kuwait’s Court of Appeals has sentenced two defendants to four years in prison with hard labor in a case involving kidnapping, extortion, coercion to sign promissory notes and theft of a civil ID card.

The court accepted appeals filed by the Public Prosecution and the first and second defendants in form and, on the merits, amended the lower court’s ruling, overturning its decision to refrain from imposing a sentence. The court also ordered the deportation of the second defendant after serving his sentence, while upholding the acquittal of the third defendant and the remaining parts of the original judgment.

According to the prosecution’s charges, the first, second and third defendants allegedly kidnapped the victim inside a diwaniya, threatened him with a weapon and forced him to sign three promissory notes worth a total of KD 30,000. They were also accused of taking his Civil ID card with the intention of using it to extort money.

The fourth defendant was accused of threatening the victim through WhatsApp and demanding money based on the promissory notes.

During the appeal proceedings, lawyer Abdullah Al-Alanda, representing the third defendant, argued that the original ruling acquitting his client was valid and should be upheld.