Kuwait sentences seven people to death including one Kuwaiti Royal

Published January 25th, 2017 - 12:51 GMT
The executions are the first since March 2013, when three men - a Saudi, a Pakistani, and a Kuwaiti without citizenship - were hanged for murder. (AFP/Yasser Al Zayat)
The executions are the first since March 2013, when three men - a Saudi, a Pakistani, and a Kuwaiti without citizenship - were hanged for murder. (AFP/Yasser Al Zayat)

Seven people, among them a member of the ruling family who killed his nephew, were hanged Wednesday in Kuwait's first executions in almost four years, state news agency Kuna reported.

Three women - from Kuwait, the Philippines and Ethiopia - were among those put to death. All had been convicted of murder.

Sheikh Faisal of the ruling al-Sabah family and two Egyptian men were hanged after being convicted of murder in three separate cases, while a Bangladeshi man was executed for kidnapping, rape and theft.

Faisal had been found guilty of shooting dead his nephew, Prince Basel al-Sabah, apparently after a dispute between the two men in the latter's home.

They had been talking privately when guests at the house heard several gunshots. Medics said Prince Basel had been shot several times at close range.

Local media reported at the time that the two men had earlier argued over cars. The victim, who was reportedly 20 years older than the killer, was head of the Kuwaiti Motor Racing Club.

The executions are the first since March 2013, when three men - a Saudi, a Pakistani, and a Kuwaiti without citizenship - were hanged for murder.

The Philippine Foreign Ministry confirmed that a 42-year-old Filipino worker was among those executed by hanging, despite a last-minute appeal by the government.

Jakatia Pawa, a mother of two, was working as a domestic helper in Kuwait when she was convicted of stabbing to death her employer's 22-year-old daughter in May 2007, the ministry said.

Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said the government had "exerted all efforts to preserve her life, including diplomatic means and appeals for compassion."

Pawa is the first overseas Filipino worker to be executed abroad under the administration of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who himself has called for the return of the death penalty, which was abolished in 2006 in the Philippines.

By Ahmed al-Masry and Girlie Linao

You may also like