KUWAIT CITY, April 23: In what legal experts are calling an unusual court case, a defendant appeared before the Court of Cassation to begin serving a 10-year prison sentence, only for his lawyers to reveal that he was not the intended subject of the conviction. Attorneys Hawra Al-Habib and Abdul Hamid Mirza, representing the accused in a theft case, presented a compelling argument before the court, asserting that their client had been mistakenly identified and wrongfully convicted due to a procedural error.

The defendant, who repeatedly maintained his innocence, was convicted in absentia by the Court of First Instance and the Court of Appeals without ever being present or properly notified. According to his legal team, the man was neither seeking to appeal his sentence nor explain his actions, because he did not commit any crime. Instead, the defense requested that the court acknowledge that their client had no connection to the case at all, and that the real suspect was already incarcerated.

In a dramatic courtroom moment, the court ordered the defendant to be temporarily detained while it verified the claims. Upon investigation, it was discovered that a clerical error resulted in the wrong civil identification number being associated with the case. The prosecution confirmed the mix-up, and the court promptly ordered the defendant’s release, restoring his freedom after confirming his innocence.

This case mirrors another incident previously reported in which a man wrongfully served a full 10-year sentence before discovering the mistake. This highlights the critical importance of due process and accurate identification in legal proceedings.

Meanwhile, the Criminal Court, presided over by Judge Dr. Khaled Al-Omara, sentenced three Gulf nationals – a father and his two sons – to seven years ‘ imprisonment and imposed a fine of KD 2.5 million, equivalent to the salaries and benefits they received from the government after obtaining Kuwaiti citizenship through forgery. The case centers on a Gulf citizen who conspired with a Kuwaiti citizen in 1989 to add his children to the Kuwaiti’s citizenship file under false names.

The defendants submitted false information and documents to the General Department of Nationality and Passport Affairs to obtain Kuwaiti passports and civil ID cards. The investigating officer revealed that the Kuwaiti citizen implicated in the case had passed away. Investigations uncovered 12 cases of citizenship forgery registered against him. The court has ordered the Gulf nationals to repay the salaries and benefits they unlawfully received. Additionally, the Criminal Court ordered the release of a lawyer on bail of KD1 million and a businessman on bail of KD3,000 – both were banned from traveling, while an employee of the Public Authority for Industry remained in custody. The Public Prosecution ordered the detention of the defendants on charges of bribery, forgery of official documents, profiting from industrial plots worth KD120 million, and money laundering worth KD 26 million.

By Jaber Al-Hamoud

Al-Seyassah/Arab Times