Kuwait's Emiri court minister denies role in cheque controversy

Kuwait City: Kuwait’s Emiri court minister has denied allegations that he had a role in the controversy surrounding a cheque signed by the prime minister allegedly for the benefit of a former lawmaker and which was last week produced by a sitting MP as possible evidence of corruption.

“With regards about what has been written and said about the cheque issue and about our connection, either directly or indirectly, with it, we hereby categorically deny any role in, or link with, this matter,” Shaikh Nasser Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, Emiri Court Minister, said on Saturday.

“We reiterate the full confidence and trust that His Highness the Emir has in His Highness Nasser Al Mohammad Al Ahmad Al Sabah, the Prime Minister and do emphasise the robust family links and the working relationship that binds us in the service of our beloved country and for the fulfillment of the aspirations of HH the Emir,” the minister said in a statement carried by the Kuwait News Agency.

The Emiri court minister said that he reserved the legal and moral rights towards anyone who raised the issue.

According to Alaan online portal, several websites and rumours in Kuwait alleged that the court minister was behind the leaking of the personal KD200,000 cheque displayed by MP Faysal Al Mislem in parliament on Wednesday.

Al Mislem said that the cheque was signed by Shaikh Nasser and given to an MP at the time when the expenditures of the prime minister’s court were being audited. His claim implied that there was a case of corruption.

“Now if the prime minister can prove that I am wrong and that this cheque had not been handed to an MP, I will resign. But if I am right and the prime minister does not resign, then I will quiz him within days,” Al Mislem said. The name of the beneficiary was blanked out and Al Mislem did not say whether he was a former or a sitting MP.

However, on Thursday, a lawyer for Shaikh Nasser condemned Al Mislem‘s attitude, saying that the cheque was “personal” and had nothing to do with public funds or the state budget and that the MP would be sued for violating personal privacy.

The bank is expected to sue Al Mislem and a bank employee for a breach of security for leaking and making public a private cheque, Ali Al Baghli, a local attorney, was quoted as saying by Al Siyassah daily.