Kuwait lawmaker calls for monitoring fundraisers – 17 held in Sixth Ring Road assaults

KUWAIT: A Kuwaiti lawmaker has called for a more vigilant monitoring of the funds raised ostensibly for acts of charity and benevolence. “The list presented by the United Arab Emirates of the names of the terror cell plotting to undermine security in the UAE and in other Gulf countries stresses the urgent need for strong control and monitoring in Kuwait,” MP Safa Al Hashem said. “The ministries of interior and social affairs and labour must monitor the activities of the people and societies who engage in fundraising in Kuwait as well as the way massive funds are used or transferred,” she said in a statement published by Al Rai daily yesterday.

An iron fist must be used to deal with violators and all those who “plant the seeds of destruction”, the lawmaker, one of three women elected to the parliament in the December legislative elections, said. “We have noted that some political figures and some expatriates have recently started raising and collecting funds without proper licencing from the competent ministry and without presenting evidence on the amount of funds,” she said. “We have also noted that some people place telephone calls to Kuwaiti homes to urge Kuwaiti nationals to donate money and they subsequently send delegates to collect the money without giving receipts that prove the donations,” she said.

Last month, security forces in the UAE arrested a cell of UAE and Saudi Arabian citizens which was planning to carry out militant attacks in both countries and other states. In the same month, reports in the UAE said that an Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood cell was unearthed by the authorities and that it was “active in recruiting members in the country and collecting sensitive military information that posed serious threat to UAE security.” Kuwaiti dailies said that the Muslim Brotherhood had a wide network in the Gulf and that it was raising money especially in Kuwait to fund its activities.

Meanwhile, seventeen people were arrested on Monday in connection with the violence that happened in the wake of a demonstration the previous night which left at least two policemen injured after protesters attacked patrol vehicles on the Sixth Ring Road. According to sources who spoke to Al-Rai on the condition of anonymity, four young men had been already referred to the Public Prosecution to face charges for physically assaulting detective Mohammad Al-Wuhaib, while 13 others arrested by Farwaniya police “remain in custody pending investigations for taking part in an unlicensed gathering and ignoring police orders.” Police are expected to summon more suspects in the coming days “as well as take legal action against former MPs who participated in the demonstration” featured in the Sabah Al-Nasser area, the sources added.

Meanwhile, father of officer Ahmad Al-Ghadhban who was hospitalized following the violence, spoke to Al-Rai about his son’s ordeal, explaining that “his patrol vehicle was cornered by two sports utility vehicles (SUV) before it was attacked by rock-throwing youngsters.” The attack resulted in damages to the patrol vehicle as well as injuries to officer Al-Ghadhban and his partner. The officers were eventually able to drive away from the scene and head to the Traffic General Department “from where they were taken to the Military Hospital before later being discharged,” Qassim Al-Ghadhban further told Al-Rai. In other news, the Appeals Court ordered the release of a Kuwaiti man convicted of undermining the status of HH the Amir on Twitter.

Citizen Nasser Al-Ansari has been in jail since February 2012 after he was sentenced to five years in prison by the Court of First Instance. The court on Sunday approved a request made by attorney Mohammad Al- Khuraybet and released Al-Ansari on a KD1000 bail. The next hearing in the case was set for March 24, 2013.

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