Kuwait court sentences former interior minister to three years in prison
Final ruling combines penalties from two public spending cases
Dubai: Kuwait’s Court of Cassation has sentenced Sheikh Talal Al Khaled, former interior minister, to three years in prison with hard labour and imposed a fine of KD3,000 after ruling in two high-profile public spending cases involving the Ministries of Interior and Defence.
The court ordered the sentences in the two cases to be merged, meaning the final enforceable prison term will be three years.
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The ruling brings an end to a legal process that stemmed from allegations concerning the use of funds allocated within the budgets of the two ministries.
The Court of Cassation had previously reserved judgment on an appeal filed by Sheikh Talal against an earlier verdict issued by the Ministers Court.
That court had sentenced Sheikh Talal to a total of 14 years in prison, comprising seven years in each case. It also ordered him to repay approximately KD10 million and imposed an additional financial penalty of around KD20 million.
The charges included allegations of embezzlement of public funds from the budgets of the Ministries of Defence and Interior, as well as money laundering.
Under Kuwait’s judicial system, rulings issued by the Court of Cassation are final, bringing the proceedings in the two cases to a close.
