2024-03-01 23:54:10
The Kuwaiti Court of Cassation, the highest judicial authority in the country, decided its position on the classification of the Lebanese “Hezbollah”, considering that this group is “banned and criminal according to the law,” and it is “an armed organization that plans to demolish the basic systems in Kuwait to form the greater Iranian republic,” and that the party “An organization that believes in the Iranian revolution and its principles and seeks to spread them in Kuwait.”
This position removes confusion regarding the legal status of this Lebanese organization, since those accused of spying with it have repeatedly defended Kuwait not classifying Hezbollah as a prohibited “terrorist entity.”
The position of the Court of Cassation came in the merits of the ruling convicting 3 Kuwaiti citizens on charges of spying with the Lebanese Hezbollah, where the court ruled to cancel their acquittal, but decided to refrain from pronouncing punishment, while requiring them to “be of good conduct and conduct,” which is a legal expression that indicates that it is conditional on their not being involved. Again in a similar case.
However, the court explained that joining the Hezbollah group and cooperating with it is considered a “crime punishable by law.”
The case in which the three Kuwaitis and a Lebanese woman are being tried goes back to accusations made by the State Security Service regarding the defendants’ involvement in financing parties affiliated with the Hezbollah organization and sending money and donations to them. The case was heard in the Court of Appeal in late 2023, where an acquittal was issued for 3 defendants, because the court I noticed that it is not enough for a conviction to be merely supported or purely inclination and sympathy. Rather, significant evidence is required to prove affiliation with the party.
However, after the appeals submitted against the appeal ruling, the case was presented again to the Court of Cassation, where yesterday (Thursday) it ruled in a final ruling headed by Counselor Abdullah Al-Jassem, canceling the acquittal of a Lebanese and two Kuwaiti citizens on the charge of collaborating with “Hezbollah,” and again ruled to convict them, while refraining from exonerating them. Declare punishment and force them to behave well.
But what was included in the cassation ruling is remarkable, and it established new principles regarding the classification of the Lebanese “Hezbollah” in Kuwait, where supporting and financing “Hezbollah” was criminalized, as the court considered sending financial donations to Lebanon to support “Hezbollah” a crime punishable by law.
The other matter is that the court classified “Hezbollah” as an armed organization hostile to Kuwait. The court confirmed that “Hezbollah” “plans to demolish the basic systems in Kuwait to form the greater Iranian republic, and it is prohibited and criminalized by law.”
The court also considered that Hezbollah is an organization that seeks to spread the principles related to the Iranian revolution, an arm of Iran in Islamic and Arab countries, and an armed organization that relies on violence and force.
The court rejected the defendants’ defense that there is no law in Kuwait that criminalizes joining Hezbollah, confirming the existence of laws criminalizing support for terrorist organizations. The court explained in the merits of the ruling: “The point is in banning any group established in contravention of Article 30 of Law No. 31 of 1971 amending some The provisions of the Penal Code No. 16 of 1960 and considering them as illegal groups are based on the purpose they aim for and the means they take to achieve their goal.”
She also explained that “the organization called (Hezbollah) that the three defendants joined is an armed organization that works in the interest of the Republic of Iran, believes in the Iranian Revolution and its principles, and its purpose is to spread it in the State of Kuwait and all Islamic countries, which is based, in essence, on the idea of demolishing the basic systems in those countries.” Through illegal means and by force attacking the existing social and economic system in order to control it and form the Greater Iranian Republic.”
What applies to the Lebanese Hezbollah also applies to another organization called “Saraya al-Ashtar,” which is an organization that announced itself in Bahrain after the events of 2012. One of the three Kuwaiti defendants was affiliated with this organization, and he also pleaded not to classify it as a terrorist organization, and the court said. In the merits of the ruling, “it has been proven from investigations that the group called (Saraya al-Ashtar), which the first accused joined, follows the same approach.”
She said: “The two organizations’ means of achieving their goals is to call for the use of force, violence, and illegal means of breaking the law to achieve their goal, with the knowledge of the defendants who joined them.”
The court added: “What the incident officer testified to, in addition to the other evidence mentioned above, confirms all the elements of the crime of the three defendants joining a group prohibited by force of law, and using force and violence as means to achieve their goals, and therefore the defendants are aware that this crime does not exist against them.” The failure to issue a law criminalizing joining the group called (Hezbollah) or the group called (Saraya al-Ashtar) and not banning these two organizations is not valid for the court to propose.”
Kuwaiti jurist Dr. Mohammed Al-Faily
Dealing with Lebanese Hezbollah is the government’s prerogative
Kuwaiti jurist Dr. Muhammad Al-Faili told Asharq Al-Awsat: “The court has the right to exercise its diligence in deriving its conclusions from the facts, given that the criminal ruling is based on conviction, and the Kuwaiti criminal law criminalizes joining parties that call for the demolition of the social and economic system in Kuwait by force.”
He added: “The Lebanese Hezbollah is not a party to this story, as it is a party licensed in a foreign country that operates according to its laws and in its territory, but the court says that the group operating in Kuwait under the name Hezbollah is a group/party calling for the demolition of the social system in Kuwait by force.”
Regarding the impact of this ruling on dealing with the party in Lebanon, Al-Faili said: “Reading the ruling in connection with the Lebanese Hezbollah is a political reading, and deciding the method of dealing with the Lebanese Hezbollah is the government’s prerogative. Because, according to the constitution, it is the one that manages the state’s foreign relations file.”
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