High Court suspends sentence for director in ‘Khatwa’ case

TDT | Manama

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The High Criminal Appeals Court, in its first session regarding the “Khatwa” case, has decided to postpone the hearing until September 22nd.

The court had previously convicted three employees from the Ministry of Social Development of causing harm to public funds belonging to the Social Insurance Organization, amounting to over BD266,000.

This was done through the falsification of statements related to the “Khatwa” programme, claiming that the beneficiaries met the requirements.

The court issued sentences ranging from five years to one and a half years imprisonment, along with fines exceeding BD500,000.

The decision to postpone the hearing was made to inquire with the Enforcement Prosecution regarding the second appellant, to determine whether the imposed sentence has been executed.

The court also instructed the third appellant’s attorney to announce the hearing date. Furthermore, the court ordered the suspension of the sentence for the first appellant until a final decision is reached on the appeal, while reminding her of the necessity to attend the hearing.

During the hearing, the first appellant, a director who was sentenced to one and a half years imprisonment and was currently serving her sentence, appeared in court.

She was accompanied by her lawyer, Abdulrahman Ghanim, who argued for the suspension of the sentence and her acquittal.

The court allowed the appellant to speak and defend herself. The third appellant, sentenced to five years imprisonment, was also present, while the second appellant, sentenced to three years imprisonment , did not appear.

The court sentenced the first defendant (third appellant) to five years imprisonment, the second defendant (second appellant) to three years imprisonment, and the third defendant (first appellant) to one and a half years imprisonment.