Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): Around a month has passed since the Royal Court granted a "gift" to the head of Judiciary, Salem Al-Kuwari, who was appointed by Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. Recently, Al-Kuwari moved into his new villa, located in one of Bahrain's new luxurious residential cities, Durrat Al-Bahrain.

The Royal Court's gift to the Head of the Supreme Judicial Council coincided with the implementation of the government's severe austerity measures, including the lift of subsidies on petrol, power, and basic commodities such as meat.

The 65-year-old Salem Mohammad Salem Al Kuwari was granted a villa with a special location, in return for the services he provided, and still is providing for the regime in the judiciary. Amnesty International has dubbed the Bahraini judiciary as "fake justice", and a politicized institution that serves the political will of the ruling family.

Al-Kuwari was not the only high-ranked official to receive this dream villa as a gift. Before him, Head of the Public Prosecution, Ali bin Fadhel Al Buainain, was also granted one.

A real estate agent predicts that the villa area granted to Al-Kawari to be a thousand-square-meter villa overlooking the sea, with 5 rooms with private bathrooms, 2 halls, 3 luxury kitchens, 3 storage rooms, 3 service staff rooms, and 2 balconies overlooking the shore. It will also have a 4 parking spaces, a private swimming pool, and a sand shore directly facing the sea, he said.

A villa with such characteristics, located in the residential project where senior ruling family members and government officials reside, around 500,000 Bahraini Dinars, or around one million 300,000 US dollars.

Al-Kuwari has been serving in his position since 2013, when the Bahraini King issued a Royal order to appoint him as president of the Court of Cassation in the rank of a minister. In his capacity as head of the cassation court, he also presides over the "Supreme Judicial Council."

It is well-known that Al-Kuwari's presidency over the Supreme Judicial Council is a formality, since by virtue of the constitution, the King is considered the head of the three main authorities. The King was, and remains to be, the person who appoints, promotes, and oversees judges in all details related to the Judiciary. It is noteworthy that the judiciary, during King Hamad's tenure, turned into a penal institution that issues harsh verdicts, most recent of which was the verdict issued by the Court of Cassation, sentencing 3 anti-regime Bahraini youths to death.

Al-Kuwari attained a Bachelor of Law from the Beirut Arab University in 1975 by distance education, a degree not recognized by the Higher Education Council, which does not accredit any form of distance education.

Al-Kuwari won his dream villa, which the regime grants only to its loyal affiliates, and so did Sawsan Al-Shaer, Samira Rajab, and Public Prosecutor Ali Al Buainain before him. A villa worth around 500,000 BD, a present offered by a man of politics to a man of the judiciary, how would it be interpreted in reality under the norms of the ruling system, and of an independent judicial system?

Arabic Version