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December 27, 2005

Kuwait: Six Islamists Sentenced to Death

In news from the Irish Sun and UPI via Science Daily, six men have been sentenced to death in Kuwait City, for involvement with clashes with police in January, which left several people dead.

There were battles on Tuesday 10 Jan (2 police dead), on Saturday 15th (1 Saudi militant dead), on Sunday 30th (1 policeman, 3 militants killed) and on Monday 31 January (5 militants killed).

They were among 37 people who were charged with plotting to attack both Kuwaiti and US security forces in Kuwait. They were said to be members of the group calling itself the Lions of the Peninsula, or Peninsula Lions Brigadewhich has ties to al-Qaeda.

The BBC states that seven of the accused were acquitted, and about 20 received jail terms which ranged between four months and 15 years. One person was given a life sentence.

Most of the group of 37 were Kuwaiti nationals, but there were several foreign nationals on trial.

Prosecutors called for the death penalty for more than the six who received the sentence. They claimed the group had planned to stage a coup and also suicide attacks.

None of the defendants were in court when the sentences were pronounced. Defence lawyers have said that confessions were forced out of their clients under torture.

The leader of the group, Amer al-Enezi, was captured in the fighting on the 31 January. He died in custody several weeks after his capture. The Irish Sun states that no verdict was announced for the wife of al-Enezi.

10 people who were given jail terms by the court, which was attended only by lawyers and reporters, are still at large, awaiting capture.

UPDATE: Jurist Paper Chase states that one of the individuals who received a custodial sentence is an Australian Arab. AFP at Yahoo News states that the man's name is Talal Qadri, and he was given a four year jail term by Judge Hani al-Hamdan.

AFP also records that Nouha, the wife of Amer Khleif al-Enezi, is suffering from cancer, and she was released on health grounds, on a bail bond of $1,700. AFP contradicts the Irish Sun by saying her husband died only eight days after being arrested.

28 December: Talal Qadri is called Talal Adrey on ABC Radio which says he is aged 30, he lived in West Sydney, and he was arrested in February. Australia's Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Bruce Billson, said that Adrey arrived in Australia five years ago as a refugee. "He's been found guilty of two charges: one relating to the possession of weapons and ammunition, and the second charge which relates to acquiring and trading in those weapons and ammunition for the purposes of facilitating intent to carry out murder," the minister said.

Talal Adrey has claimed that he has been tortured, with his fingernails ripped out, but Bruce Billson states that there was no evidence of that. The Kuwaiti court has ordered that when Adrey's four-year sentence is up, he will be deported.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at December 27, 2005 10:15 AM

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