36 Bottles of Booze, But No Crime? Kuwait Court Frees Suspects Over Legal Error
The court cited Article 44 of the Code, stipulating that a written search warrant must be issued when necessary, which was not the case when the defendants were arrested. It asserted that mere suspicion or observation of the defendants in an abnormal condition does not constitute a case of flagrante delicto that justifies an arrest without a warrant. The Public Prosecution charged the defendants with possessing alcoholic beverages for trafficking, after they were arrested in Hawally when a secret agent gave them marked money to purchase the liquor.
A total of 27 Chivas Regal bottles and 36 Black Label bottles were confiscated from the defendants, in addition to cash amounting to KD395. The arresting officer indicated that the defendants admitted that the confiscated items belonged to them for sale. However, Al-Qattan argued that the search warrant was not valid at the time of arrest, which renders the arrest and subsequent search invalid, as well as the evidence derived from such procedures. The court accepted this argument and acquitted the defendants.
Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff and Agencies
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