Criminal Court acquits six in electricity and water meter bribery case
. . . says WhatsApp messages insufficient to prove bribery
The Criminal Court, headed by Judge Al-Dhuwaihi Al-Dhuwaihi, with judges Bader Al-Shehab, Ibrahim Khuraibat and Faisal Khuraibat, has acquitted all six accused in a case involving electricity and water meter contracts, citing lack of evidence to establish bribery charges, mediation and participation in bribery.
The accused included a department head and a supervisor at the Ministry of Electricity and Water, three expatriates and a Kuwaiti citizen.
In its verdict, the court said WhatsApp messages referring to salaries, gifts and the modification of reports raised suspicions but were not sufficient to establish criminal responsibility. It stressed that suspicion alone is not sufficient enough to prove the charges against the accused.
The court found that the combined evidence failed to establish that the alleged benefits were provided in exchange for overlooking violations committed by the company involved in the contracts.
It also noted that the investigating officer’s testimony about the findings of his investigations could not be treated as independent evidence separate from the investigation itself.
The court further emphasized that criminal responsibility must be established individually for each accused. The mere transfer of transaction documents did not prove that an accused knew their purpose, while receiving money or obtaining an appointment did not, by itself, establish participation in bribery.
