KUWAIT: The criminal court yesterday indicted former MP Khaled Al-Sultan of offending a judge, but abstained from punishing him. Although the plaintiff - the judge hearing the Abdaly cell case - dropped the charges, informed sources said this ruling highlights that questioning the judiciary is an offense. The sources added that if it were not for dropping the charges, the ruling might have been tougher. Notably, on his Twitter account, Sultan had inquired about the reason behind holding the Abdaly case's hearings behind closed doors, which he deemed as discrediting and assuming that the case would be manipulated in the suspects' favor.
Rent allowance
The constitutional court yesterday rejected a case against the housing welfare law that demanded receiving rent allowances from both the body an employee works for and the Public Authority for Housing Welfare. The court also rejected six other cases including one filed by MP Abdulhameed Dashti in which he questioned the constitutionality of article 4 of law number 31 of 1970 pertaining with amending penal law number 16/1960.
Fugitive caught
Jahra detectives arrested a bedoon (stateless) in Sulaibiya who had been wanted for a total of 120 years imprisonment in a number of cases. Security sources said that the suspect showed a great deal of resistance, adding that detectives had lately arrested a number of suspects wanted for prison sentences totaling almost 1,000 years.
'Fake' drinks confiscated
The commercial inspection department at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry held sudden inspections at several supermarkets and department stores in Shuwaikh yesterday, which resulted in confiscating 1,440 bottles of a popular beverage that is widely consumed during Ramadan. Rasheedi said the bottles were fake and did not have expiry dates. He added that the fake beverage was confiscated and the owners were referred to commercial prosecution. The campaigns were held under the supervision of the ministry's assistant undersecretary for supervision Eid Al-Rasheedi, and as part of its plans to control prices and foodstuff quality before Ramadan.
Sand 'theft'
Ahmadi municipality director Ahmed Al-Shetaili said that his emergency team inspected Kuwait's southern areas, and the campaign resulted in detecting a number of trucks and diggers stealing sand. Shetaili added that the team impounded nine trucks and a bulldozer at the site and that they were all referred to Mina Abdullah police station.
By A Saleh and Meshaal Al-Enezi