Kuwait Executes 7 Prisoners; Including A Royal Family Member

Kuwait executed 7 prisoners on Wednesday, including a prince of the royal family and five foreigners, media reports said.

The hangings on Wednesday were the first executions in the oil-rich Gulf state since mid-2013.

Those executed included two Kuwaitis, two Egyptians, a Bangladeshi, a Filipina and an Ethiopian. They were convicted of offences ranging from murder, attempted murder, kidnapping and rape.

The Kuwaiti government identified the royal as Sheikh Faisal Abdullah Al Jaber Al Sabah and said he was convicted of premeditated murder and illegal possession of a firearm.

Nusra al-Enezi, the other Kuwaiti, was convicted of setting fire to a tent in 2009 during a wedding party for her husband, killing around 57 people, including women and children.

It was an apparent act of revenge against her husband for taking a second wife.

The Filipina and Ethiopian women were domestic helpers convicted of murdering members of their employers’ families in two unrelated crimes.

The two Egyptians were convicted of premeditated murders, while the Bangladeshi was convicted of abduction and rape.

In the Philippines, authorities had earlier identified the Filipina hanged as Jakatia Pawa, who was convicted of killing her employer’s 22-year old daughter in 2007.

In an interview with ABS-CBN television, Charles Jose, a spokesman for the department of foreign affairs, said the Philippine government pursued diplomatic, political and religious channels to free Pawa.

Pawa’s brother, Gary Pawa, told the Associated Press news agency that his sister had called early on Wednesday morning, crying as she informed him of her scheduled execution.

She asked him to take care of her two children.

In a separate interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Pawa said the execution came as a shock as they were hoping that his sister would be home soon.

He said his sister was innocent.

The last known executions to be carried out in Kuwait were in 2013, when a Pakistani, a Saudi and a “Bidoon”, or man without citizenship in the emirate, were hung.

Agencies/Canadajournal