Manama: Kuwait’s information ministry referred 384 cases against newspaper and television stations to the public prosecution in 2014, the deputy head of the media and publishing prosecution department has said.
The cases were among the 488 violation complaints the prosecution received last year, Faisal Al Harbi said. The other 104 cases against the media were filed by individuals and various parties.
The public prosecution found sufficient legal ground to proceed with 400 cases, but rejected 29. It is still looking into 42 cases and referred 17 cases to other parties after it decided it was not empowered to investigate them, Al Harbi said, local daily Al Jareeda reported on Sunday.
He said that the public prosecution could not look into cases filed against online sites as they did not come under the purview of the 2006 publication law. Such cases came within the domain of the general directorate of investigation, he said.
“The public prosecution looks into crimes related to publications in newspapers, magazines and flyers,” he said. “They are usually news and articles that include words, phrases, pictures or drawings targeting God, the Quran, prophets or Prophet Mohammad’s [PBUH] companions or wives, or the Emir of Kuwait. The prosecution also investigates crimes that include contempt or disdain of the state’s constitution, an insult or contempt of judges or the public prosecutor and any violation of a gag order imposed by the court or the investigators,” he said.
The public prosecution is also empowered to look into cases pertaining to a breach of morals that include incitement to break the public order, violating laws, committing crimes, targeting the economic system of the country, attacking people and undermining political relations with foreign countries, Al Harbi said.
