By A Saleh and Meshaal Al-Enezi

KUWAIT: The court of appeal yesterday set January 16th as the date for the first appeal hearing of the case against a former minister and businessman and his Russian deputy with regards to embezzling the Kuwait Ports Authority funds. Notably, the criminal court had sentenced both defendants to 15 years in jail. The defendants' lawyer intends to demand releasing both defendants and suspending the criminal court's verdict.

Snapchat competition

The criminal court yesterday sentenced a citizen to two years in jail with labor and a KD 300 fine over charges of organizing a competition on Snapchat last November in which he encouraged female users to upload pictures of their legs to choose the 'most beautiful' ones among them. Notably, the public prosecution had released the defendant on a KD 500 bail after a six-day detention during which he was investigated on charges of instigating vice. The defendant had denied the charges and claimed that he has filmed the video and shared it amongst his own followers 'only for fun'. In other news, The criminal court yesterday sentenced a citizen to three years in jail with labor over charges of spreading false news.

'Funeral App'

The funeral department manager at Kuwait Municipality Dr Faisal Al-Awadhi announced updating the 'Funeral App' to include daily lists of mortalities with names, burial time and addresses where condolences are held. Awadhi added that the application, which was launched in March 2019 on Apple's App Store and Android's Google Play, also includes guidelines such as related centers, cemeteries' locations, unused and historical cemeteries, photos and brief notes about each of them in addition to news about the department, its achievements and contact numbers. A Fatwa service and the department's publications were added, Awadhi said, adding that they are reachable through the following link: http://onelink.to/zhv5dd.