Kuwait: Four receive final prison terms for exam leaks

The four were acquitted of money laundering charges.

The court has since acquitted seven others in the same case, although it is not clear when the case was uncovered. The verdicts are final.

In June, Kuwait's Ministry of Education canceled and rescheduled the Islamic education exam after questions and answers were shared on social media.

Ten suspects were subsequently arrested in connection with the leak. The country's Interior Ministry said at the time that the suspects included four Education Ministry employees and six other people who managed social media accounts.

In recent years, exam leaks have been reported in Kuwait and the perpetrators were later punished in various cases.

Earlier this year, a Kuwaiti court sentenced three defendants, including an expatriate, to five years in prison each for their involvement in passing high school exams.

The sentence was imposed in exchange for money against two Kuwaiti nationals who were convicted of involvement in the exam leak via WhatsApp groups.

The court issued the same verdict against an Egyptian expatriate who was tried in absentia in connection with the same case.

In December, a Kuwaiti court handed down different prison sentences to four people in a similar case. At that time, the criminal court sentenced two Kuwaitis – a man and a woman – to ten and seven years in prison, respectively, in the case.

Another Kuwaiti and an expatriate were each sentenced to one year in prison in the same case.