KUWAIT: The Criminal Court, chaired by Judge Mohammad Al-Duaij, decided yesterday to pursue prosecution of suspects in the June 26th mosque blast in a closed-door session tomorrow. A state security officer is scheduled to appear in front of the court in the upcoming session.

The court also decided to resume ordinary sessions as of August 16th for enabling the public prosecution to present the case and for other technical purposes. It tasked a number of attorneys from the Kuwait Lawyers Association to defend a number of defendants.

The court had ordered in its second session last Thursday the release of 11 out of 29 suspects in the mosque suicide bombing case, including two women, without bail. It also maintained the travel ban on the released suspects and ordered them to attend all coming sessions, as well as asking the Correctional Facilities Department to allow all defendants who are in custody to contact their relatives and lawyers.

The court asked the Kuwait Lawyers Association to provide lawyers to a number of defendants who have no representatives in accordance with the Article 120 of Kuwaiti Code of Criminal Procedures and Trials.

The court started Thursday's session with presenting security camera footages that included a compact disc (CD) and a flash memory which showed, Fahad Soleiman Al-Qaba'a, who committed the blast. During the same session, Abdulrahman Sabah Eidan, a defendant, reiterated his confession that he transported the suicide bomber to the mosque on the day of the attack; saying the car belongs to another defendant.

Among the defendants are seven Kuwaitis, five Saudis, three Pakistanis, 13 illegal residents, and a fugitive defendant, whose nationality has not been identified. Two defendants were arrested in Saudi Arabia. The mosque blast took place during Friday prayers, leaving 26 people killed and 227 others injured.

Tightened security

Security was heightened in and out the Palace of Justice in preparation for the third court session of the Imam Al-Sadeq Mosque bombing attack. The defense lawyers committee asked for the release of the suspects and summoned the officer who handled the incident.

Meanwhile, lawyer Jarrah Al-Enezi officially quit to defend them and rejected the request of lawyers' society to do so because he is convinced not to defend extremists. The lawyers' society asked four lawyers to defend the suspects in the Imam Al-Sadeq blow up case based on the court decision.

The court told lawyers that whoever is appointed by the court, will not be excused unless he has a very good excuse and the final decision will be that of the court, while lawyer Hussein Al-Hardan said there is no escape from the appointment, because there will be no progress in trials without a lawyer for the suspect.

The court appointed lawyer Faisal Abu Halaiba who was present to defend the 26th suspect, Dhari Ahmad Ruwaiee Khalaf. He is also the lawyer to defend suspects 25, 26, 27, 28 and 29 who were earlier ordered released.

The appointed lawyers by the court to defend first suspect Abdelrahman Sabah and tenth suspect Adel Agel Salem Al-Zafeeri. Lawyer Hussein Al-Hardan was appointed to defend the 17th suspect Saleh Tumah and lawyer Fawaz Al-Mirshid to defend Daesh governor Fahad Faraj.

Meanwhile, the court decided to detain one of the suspects, though he was ordered released, but he is accused in another case of financing and supporting the Islamic State (IS) group. The ninth suspect Mohammad Farraj, also known as the IS Wali (governor), was not brought from central prison. Meanwhile, several lawyers filed civil cases against the suspects in the Imam Al-Sadeq Mosque attack, while lawyer Abdelmohsen Al-Qattam filed a civil case against the interior minister and customs department director in relation to the case.

By Mehsaal Al-Enezi and KUNA