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BAHRAIN’s highest court has struck down the appeal of a philanthropist who used social media to solicit donations for a sick expatriate child without his parents’ permission.
The Bahraini man had shared photos of the boy in his sickbed, captioned “contribute to his treatment and do it with pure intent towards God.”
The Lower Criminal Court earlier found him guilty of publishing a post related to ‘the private, familial life’ of the ill boy’s father, and ‘intentionally causing a disturbance’ to the family.
He was given a one-month suspended sentence and ordered to pay BD400 to the plaintiff as a ‘temporary settlement’.
Judges also ruled to allow the case to be heard in the Civil Courts as the expatriate father, who reported the post to the authorities, wanted to sue the defendant for damages.
The Bahraini filed an appeal at the High Criminal Appeals Court which withdrew the jail sentence and slashed the fine to BD50. He, however, filed another appeal at the Cassation Court, which upheld the verdict.
The defendant’s lawyer told judges that his client ‘simply wanted to help and do a charitable deed, and did not mean to cause a disturbance to the victim’.
He also claimed that the Bahraini had removed the post seeking donations soon after it was shared on social media.
Judges responded in the verdict that regardless of the appellant’s intention, he did ‘violate someone’s private life’ which was enough to prove the crime.
“Even if he wanted to be charitable and helpful, he is still responsible for his actions,” judges said.
Meanwhile, in June, the Cassation Court had upheld another ruling finding the Bahraini philanthropist guilty of raising more than BD800,000 for his charity without a licence.
On June 23, the court said the philanthropist raised BD815,793 after failing twice to obtain a licence to collect funds.
The Lower Criminal Court had earlier ruled to seize the amount and fined him BD1,000 in November 2022, a decision that was upheld later by both appeals courts.
Bank statements showed that between 2019 and 2022, 16,301 incoming transactions were made amounting to more than BD1,000,000 in total.
In addition, 586 withdrawals amounting to BD3,481 were made from the account, along with 143 deposits, 95 cheque deposits and 78 cheque withdrawals.
Judges said the appellant was aware of the fact that his charity society had no legal right to collect money, and knew about the procedures to obtain a licence after two of his requests were rejected last year. In this case too, the philanthropist maintained his innocence, stating that he meant well and “only spent money for lawful purposes.”
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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