The Court of Appeal, led by Counselor Nasr Salem Al-Heid, has acquitted a citizen working as an engineer in the Ministry of Electricity and a Syrian expatriate. The ruling overturns their previous conviction, which sentenced them to 10 years in prison along with a fine of 241 thousand dinars for leaking high school exams on social networking sites, reported Al-Qabas Daily.
The Public Prosecution had initially charged the citizen, an engineer in the Ministry of Electricity, with divulging secrets of the Ministry of Education. It was alleged that he had published high school exams, complete with correct answers, on various social media platforms. In return, the second accused, a Syrian national residing in the country, allegedly received more than 241 thousand dinars as payment for their involvement in the fraud.
Both individuals were also accused of money laundering. During the investigation, it was discovered that the defendants had sold the corrected exam papers for prices ranging from 25 to 50 dinars per subject. In the initial ruling by the Criminal Court, the two defendants were sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined 241,000 dinars. Furthermore, the second accused was to be deported from the country after serving the sentence.
However, during the trial at the Court of Appeal, the defendants vehemently denied the accusations made against them, and their defense lawyers demanded acquittal and leniency in their favor. Despite the court’s decision to withhold the defendants’ release and reject the suspension of their sentence, the case was ultimately reserved for judgment.
