Fintas Group on Charges of Threatening National KUWAIT: Incorrect Stereotypes About People with Physi- Security and Insulting HH the Amir
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SUBSCRIPTION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2015 THULHIJJA 8, 1436 AH www.kuwaittimes.net Israel, Russia Davis, Hamm, to coordinate ‘Game of military action Thrones’ win over Syria7 Emmys38 glory Lawyers attacked by ‘Fintas Min 26º Group’ members at hearing Max 45º High Tide 04:30 & 18:25 Judge defers case to Nov 9, lifts travel bans Low Tide 12:05 & 23:40 40 PAGES NO: 16648 150 FILS By a Staff Reporter KUWAIT: The criminal court yesterday began the trial of 13 Youth defies disability, stereotypes people including four members of the ruling family of the so-called Fintas Group on charges of threatening national KUWAIT: Incorrect stereotypes about people with physi- security and insulting HH the Amir. Ahead of the start of the cal disabilities have long kept them excluded from socie- hearing, lawyers Loay Al-Kharafi and Ibrahim Al-Kandari ty. In Kuwait, there are many organizations that help pro- were attacked in the corridors of the Palace of Justice by tect the rights of the disabled, but finding work remains a some of the accused members of the Fintas Group. One of challenge for many of them. Nasser Al-Marzouq, a blind the attackers shouted that the “judiciary is corrupt” and that student at Kuwait University’s Faculty of Arts, is defying they would settle the issue with their “own hands”, meaning these stereotypes. A public relations major, Marzouq is outside the law. One of the lawyers was injured and was now interning at KUNA to learn more about journalism treated onsite. and media and to develop his passion for this field of But the judge set Nov 9 for the next hearing and lifted a work. travel ban on all the members, who also include writers, The young man faced many obstacles when he first journalists, tweeters and lawyers. Three of the members did entered university. For instance, he was warned that find- not attend the hearing yesterday. The public prosecution ing a job would be difficult as not many employees charged the defendants of forming a group on WhatsApp would hire a blind employee. Others suggested that a and exchanging sensitive information that undermined media job might require too much ‘sighted’ work. national security. All the alleged members present in the Nonetheless, Marzouq rejected the negative comments court yesterday categorically denied the charges. and continued his studies with more ambition and enthusiasm. The biggest problem facing people with special needs is studying in specialized schools, separated from the public schools during their childhood, as this is consid- ered a form of isolation from the society, he said. The country’s institutions should trust the abilities of the blind people and those with special needs in general, as modern technologies have made it very simple for this sector of the society to integrate into the workplace and be active members. Marzouq added that blind people can rarely be found seeking scientific majors, as the books in that specialty are very hard to be transliterated into Braille, a special A video grab shows the lawyers being attacked at tactile system used by blind people to read, calling on KUWAIT: Nasser Al-Marzouq, a blind student at Kuwait University’s Faculty of Arts, is interning at KUNA the Palace of Justice. to learn more about journalism and the media. — KUNA Continied on Page 13 News France opens Iran PAGE Google launches PAGE in brief business office online IT degrees Gulf firms under pressure from low oil price: S&P DUBAI: Companies in the six Gulf Arab states are under pressure as governments reduce spending in response to a slump in oil revenues, Standard and Poor’s ratings Shock as Saudis target services said yesterday. “Corporate and infrastructure companies in the (Gulf Cooperation Council) GCC face a weaker operating environment at present on the back mighty Binladin group of lower oil prices,” S&P said in a report. Low oil income has slowed government expenditures on which these RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s decision to sanc- said authorities were “embarrassed” by companies largely depend, it said. World oil prices have tion the Binladin Group over the deadly the accident and expressed surprise that dropped by more than 50 percent since June 2014. The Makkah crane collapse has come as a the company was sanctioned only a few International Monetary Fund forecasts that this will shock and could have serious conse- days later. “Ordinarily things move pretty result in a $300 billion drop in revenues this year for the quences for one of the kingdom’s most slowly here,” the diplomat said. A prelimi- six GCC states. Some infrastructure projects have been powerful firms. After decades of thriving nary investigation found that the group scrapped as a result, S&P said. “We observe, however, on lucrative government contracts, the was partly responsible for the accident as that GCC governments continue to invest in large pub- Saudi Binladin Group is facing unprece- the crane was incorrectly positioned lic sector infrastructure projects,” said S&P credit analyst dented scrutiny over the accident, which when high winds struck. Salman ordered Karim Nassif. “Still, the longer the oil price remains near saw one of its cranes topple during a prosecutors to prepare an indictment but current low levels, the higher the likelihood of seeing major expansion of the Grand Mosque in also took immediate steps - suspending more infrastructure projects postponed or dropped,” he Makkah, Islam’s holiest site. the company from new public contracts said. S&P said the Dubai real estate market is also suffer- The Sept 11 accident killed 108 people and forbidding its executives from leav- ing with residential prices projected to fall by between and injured about 400, including foreign- ing the country, pending the completion 10 percent and 20 percent this year. But it said it expect- ers who had arrived ahead of the annual of judicial processes. ed UAE property firms to withstand the correction. hajj pilgrimage which begins today. Analysts said the sudden punishment ALEPPO: Syrians stand next to the body of a victim following bombings by gov- Analysts say it deeply troubled Saudi King of the firm was astounding given its huge ernment forces on a market in the rebel held Al-Shaar district of this northern Salman, the official custodian of Islam’s size and longstanding ties with the Saudi Shuaiba refinery operates Syrian city yesterday. —- AFP (See Page 7) holiest sites, and prompted surprisingly authorities. “It is shocking,” said one Saudi at 150,000 bpd capacity swift action against the group, founded analyst who did not want to be named, DUBAI: The Shuaiba oil refinery in Kuwait is cur- more than 80 years ago by the father of saying any moves to cause significant rently operating at 150,000 barrels per day capaci- Rebels see tougher war Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and damage to the company would be like ty, a Kuwaiti industry source said yesterday, after a now chaired by Osama’s brother Bakr. “America destroying General Motors”. fire at a heavy oil unit forced a total shutdown last A Western diplomat in the kingdom Continued on Page 13 month. The fire at the heavy oil cracking unit at with Russians in Syria Kuwait’s 200,000 barrel-per-day Shuaiba refinery AMMAN/BEIRUT: Rebels who have by a regional struggle between Saudi broke out on Aug 17. The plant was restarted on inflicted big losses on Syrian President Arabia and Iran. Aug 22. OPEC member Kuwait has three refineries, Bashar Al-Assad say Russia’s intervention Hoping to galvanize more support, including Shuaiba, with a combined capacity of in support of its ally will only lead to an rebels are evoking the Soviet failure in 930,000 bpd. escalation of the war and may encourage Afghanistan as a model for their struggle, the rebels’ Gulf Arab backers to pour in and depicting Russia as a new occupier. more military aid. Russia’s deployment is But they also say this means the war, Fire forces 1,500 pilgrims prompting a reassessment of the conflict already in its fifth year, will go on even from hotel in Makkah among insurgents whose advances in longer. “It is in our calculations that the MAKKAH: A fire forced some 1,500 people from their western Syria in recent months may have battle will now extend for more years hotel in the Saudi city of Makkah yesterday as hundreds been the catalyst for Russia’s decision. US than it would have without the Russians,” of thousands gathered for the hajj pilgrimage, the civil officials say Russian forces are already said Abu Yousef Al-Mouhajer, a rebel defense department said. Four Yemeni pilgrims sus- arriving. fighting in the Latakia area where Russian tained minor injuries following the pre-dawn fire in a Rebels interviewed by Reuters say they forces have deployed at an airfield. “The 15-storey hotel, state news agency SPA quoted the have already encountered stronger gov- Russian intervention has come to save the department as saying. A preliminary investigation ernment resistance in those areas - regime,” said the fighter with the Ahrar Al- found a short circuit in a room to have caused the fire, it notably the coastal heartland of Assad’s Sham group, part of an alliance that has said. The hotel’s guests are among close to two million Alawite sect - and now predict an even advanced in the Assad-held west. Like Muslims from around the world expected for the hajj, tougher war with Russian involvement. other rebels interviewed for this article, he which begins officially today. On Thursday, about 1,000 Some see an opportunity in the Russian spoke via the internet.