News / Persian Gulf

Kuwait Shia lawmakers boycott parliament

Wednesday, 13 January 2016 5:15 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 13 January 2016 5:16 PM ]

Kuwaiti MPs take part in a parliament session at Kuwait's National Assembly in Kuwait City on January 13, 2016. (AFP photo)

Kuwait's Shia lawmakers have boycotted parliament in protest at a mass sentencing of members of the minority sect to prison or death over allegations of "spying for Iran" and planning attacks in the Persian Gulf country.

All nine lawmakers refrained from attending the national assembly on Wednesday, in which a secret debate was held on the influence of regional conflicts on Kuwait.

“The anger of Kuwaiti Shias has reached its peak in recent days with followers of a complete sect" being accused of acting as "agents for Iran and being members of (Lebanon’s resistance movement) Hezbollah,” MP Saleh Ashour said in a message posted on Twitter.

He added that Kuwaiti authorities at the same time do not take any action against people who are fighting in Iraq and Syria, referring to militants who join the ranks of Takfiri groups in the two crisis-hit countries.

The boycott comes a day after a court in the Arab country convicted 22 people, including an Iranian who along with another defendant was sentenced to death in absentia.

Nineteen others were given jail terms ranging from five years to life. Another was fined 5,000 dinars (USD 16,500) while three were acquitted.

The court claimed that the Iranian, identified as Abdulreza Haydar, had recruited the Kuwaiti nationals and helped them travel to Lebanon to receive military training from Lebanon's resistance movement Hezbollah.

The other man condemned to death, Kuwaiti Hasan Abdulhadi Ali, was found guilty of being "the mastermind of the cell.”

The court also alleged that the defendants spied for Hezbollah, smuggled in and assembled explosives, and were in possession of firearms and ammunition.

Kuwaiti officials last August claimed that they had disbanded a cell linked to Iran and seized large quantities of arms, explosives and ammunition.

The trial began in September during which all the 23 defendants present in court dismissed the charges brought against them and said they had confessed under torture.

At the time, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in reaction dismissed as completely baseless allegations leveled in Kuwait against the Islamic Republic.

The Iranian embassy in Kuwait also in a statement dismissed accusations linking Tehran to the cell and said a “systematic” media campaign is underway to harm the relationship between the two countries.

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