Kuwait Changes Death Sentence of Suspect Collaborating with Iran to Life Imprisonment

On Sunday, June 18, the Kuwaiti Supreme Court commuted the death sentence of a Shia citizen accused of conspiracy against the country and collaboration with Iran to life imprisonment. According to AFP, the death sentence of Hassan Abdulhadi Ali, who was accused of forming a 26-member cell to attack targets in the UAE, was reduced to life imprisonment. Members of this 'Shia' group were accused of espionage for Iran and of hiding large quantities of weapons, explosives, and ammunition. Hassan Abdulhadi Ali was also found guilty of membership in Hezbollah since 1996 and trafficking large amounts of weapons and explosives from Iran to Kuwait. The Kuwaiti Supreme Court sentenced 20 members of this group to 5 to 15 years in prison and acquitted two others. The cases of three other individuals were not sent to the Supreme Court due to their fugitive status. Based on this report, one of the Iranian defendants in this case, referred to as Abdulreza Haidar, is currently a fugitive and was sentenced to death in the lower court in January of last year. The Kuwaiti lower court accused this Iranian of connections with the Revolutionary Guard and of recruiting Kuwaiti Shia and facilitating their travel to Lebanon to cooperate with Hezbollah. AFP reports that the 23 defendants present in court denied their charges and claimed they confessed under torture. Iran has denied any connection with this group. Nearly one-third of the native Kuwaiti population consists of Shia Muslims. In this context, Kuwaiti newspapers reported that the seized smuggled weapons 'came from Iran.'