A Kuwaiti State Security and Terrorism Criminal Court sentenced three men to death on Monday over an alleged plot to assassinate First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Fahad Al-Yousef, with prosecutors accusing the defendants of spying for Iran, communicating with Iranian-linked entities and joining Hezbollah, two judicial sources told the AFP news agency Tuesday.The court also sentenced eight other defendants to varying prison terms.Those sentenced to death included cleric and National Islamic Alliance Secretary-General Hussein Abdullah Al-Maatouq and two other men.
One of the defendants had previously been convicted of terrorism in 2016 and later received a pardon before being arrested again in April, the were accused of communicating with Iran and entities allegedly operating in its interests, including Lebanese group Hezbollah, to carry out hostile acts against Kuwait following the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Feb
28, at the beginning of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.The defendants were also accused of joining Hezbollah, a banned group in Kuwait, while knowing its objectives, and of engaging in activities allegedly intended to undermine the country’s political, social and economic order and harm its national interests.Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Qabas reported prosecutors accused the defendants of attempting to use explosives to carry out the alleged assassination plot and spread panic.
One defendant was separately accused of attempting to bring explosives into the country to enable the others to carry out the alleged operation.The reported Iran connection forms a central part of the case, although the allegations against the defendants do not, on their own, establish that the Iranian government directed the alleged assassination plot.
