Kuwaiti sentenced to 7 years in jail for attacking expat, causing paralysis

Kuwaiti sentenced to 7 years in jail

A Kuwaiti court has sentenced a citizen to seven years in prison on charges of causing a grievous bodily harm to an expatriate, a Kuwaiti newspaper reported.

The victim has suffered quadriplegia, a condition where all four limbs experience paralysis, as a result of an attack from the defendant over the former’s laxity in washing his car, Al Anba said.

The defendant was charged with causing a permanent disability to the expatriate whose nationality or age was not given.

A criminal court earlier sentenced the defendant to 10 years in prison. He later appealed against the verdict and pleaded innocent at the appeals court, alleging that the claimant had fallen of his own and had a previous injury.

Rejecting the defendant’s claims, the appeals court said in an explanation for its verdict that the evidence furnished against the defendant from eyewitnesses, the claimant and a forensic medical report is “solid and sound”.

In recent months, Kuwaiti media reported varying verdicts issued in different cases of violence.

Last month, a Kuwaiti court sentenced to death a member of the country’s ruling family on charges of killing a young man due to an unspecified dispute.

The ruling, which can be appealed, was issued by the Criminal Court against the royal whose name was not officially given.

However, Kuwaiti news portal Almajllis identified the convict as Sheikh Sabah Al Salem Al Sabah, saying the death sentence was handed down to him for killing Abdul Aziz Al Zatary, an athlete.

The case dates back to last April when a man shot down Al Zatary outside his house in the governorate of Mubarak Al Kabeer, south of Kuwait City, according to media reports.

The killer had fired a volley of shots at the victim, who died on the spot in front of his mother, triggering shockwaves across Kuwait.

Al Zatary was a water cyclist who competed in several races. He is thought to have been once Sabah’s friend.