Kuwait court annuls death sentence in Iran spy trial

By Mohammed Abdul-Ghaffar

KUWAIT CITY (AA) – Kuwait's highest appellate court on Sunday overturned the death sentence handed down to a Kuwaiti national convicted for spying for Iran.

In July, a lower court sentenced the Kuwaiti national to death on charges of conspiring with Iran and Lebanon's Shia Hezbollah group to destabilize Kuwait.

The court also slapped one person with a life sentence, five people with a 15-year jail term each and acquitted 13 others in the same case.

But on Sunday, the Court of Cassation annulled the death sentence and slapped the defendants with a life sentence, a judicial source said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to media.

The court also lowered the life sentence for another defendant to 15 years in prison and sentenced 13 others previously judged "not guilty" to 10 years.

Sunday's verdicts are binding and cannot be appealed.

The case dates back to August of 2015 when Kuwaiti security forces raided a farm in Al Abdali near Iraqi border, arresting a number of people in possession of weapons.

Prosecutors had accused the suspects of plotting to carry out hostile acts in Kuwait.