PENINSULA LIONS PROSECUTION OVERVIEW: CASE NEARS

S E C R E T KUWAIT 000570 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS NEA/ARP, S/WCI E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/16/2017 TAGS: PTER PREL PHUM PGOV IZ KU TERRORISM SUBJECT: PENINSULA LIONS PROSECUTION OVERVIEW: CASE NEARS FINAL REVIEW REF: A. 05 KUWAIT 797 ¶B. 05 KUWAIT 5270 ¶C. 06 KUWAIT 1594 ¶D. 06 KUWAIT 3079 ¶E. 06 KUWAIT 4452 Classified By: CDA Matt Tueller for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). ¶1. (S) Summary. With a hearing date before Kuwait,s highest court set for May 15, 2007, the terror trials arising out of January 2005 armed clashes between the Peninsula Lions, a Kuwait-based extremist group, and Government of Kuwait security forces are nearing their conclusion. The December 2005 trial verdicts for the 37 defendants resulted in 30 guilty verdicts, including six death penalties, and seven not guilty verdicts. In July 2006, the Constitutional Court upheld the constitutionality of a broad class of charges against the defendants. On November 13, 2006, the Court of Appeals upheld all 29 guilty verdicts and all seven not guilty verdicts. (Note: One defendant died during the appeals process. End note.) Six of the defendants are still fugitives. End summary. January, 2005, Confrontations -------------- ¶2. (U) In January 2005, during a series of Kuwait law enforcement raids targeting members of the Peninsula Lions, a Kuwait-based extremist group, gun battles erupted between the security forces and members of the extremist group resulting in the deaths of four security officers, one bystander and nine Peninsula Lions members (ref A). As a result of the raids, criminal charges were brought against 37 Peninsula Lions members. Trial Verdict -------------- ¶3. (U) On December 27, 2005, 30 of the 37 Peninsula Lions defendants were convicted of a range of terror-related crimes including murder and attempted assassination (ref B). Six received the death penalty, one received a life sentence plus three years, 20 received sentences ranging from four months to fifteen years in jail, three received suspended sentences and seven were acquitted. Nine of the defendants were convicted in absentia. ¶4. (U) The charges against the 37 defendants listed 35 separate charges including four counts of murder of Kuwait security forces, planning the assassination of Kuwait State Security (KSS) and Ministry of Interior (MOI) officials, collaborating to commit terrorism, planning the murder of military personnel of friendly forces in Kuwait, exhorting others to join illegal organizations, carrying out hostile actions against the state's interests, funding terrorist groups through charitable donations, issuing fatwas to help facilitate hostile acts, possessing unlicensed firearms and ammunition, and manufacturing explosives. Constitutional Court Decision -------------- ¶5. (U) On May, 3 2006, the Court of Appeals judge referred all of the cases to the Constitutional Court for consideration of the constitutionality of charges based on a &collaboration to commit a crime8 provision under Article 56 of the Penal Code (ref C). The judge observed that it was ¬ fair8 that defendants who only planned a crime were being charged as if they carried out the crime. ¶6. (U) On July 26, 2006, the Constitutional Court upheld the constitutionality of Article 56 charges based on "collaboration to commit a crime" and returned the case to the Court of Appeals (ref D). (Note: Upholding the Article 56 charges allowed the continuation of another terror trial with similar charges, the Jihadi in Iraq case. This case involved eight defendants charged with recruitment of Kuwaiti youths to fight in Iraq and attack U.S.-led forces in Iraq. End note.) Court of Appeals Decision -------------- ¶7. (S/NF) On November 13, 2006, the Court of Appeals issued its decision, upholding all 29 guilty verdicts and all seven not guilty verdicts (ref E). (Note: One defendant died in February, 2006, following her acquittal at trial. End note.) Nine of the guilty verdict sentences were reduced and four were increased. In summary, of the 29 guilty verdicts, there were: - Four death penalties, - Two life sentences, - Nine sentences greater than ten years, - Three sentences between 4 and 10 years, and - 11 sentences of four years or less. (Note: Three of the defendants convicted in absentia were apprehended while the cases were on appeal. Ahmed Abdullah Mohammed Al-Otaibi was detained by Coalition military forces in Iraq in March 2006. Hamed Nawaf Hamdi Al-Harbi was arrested in Farwaniya, Kuwait in August 2006. Abdul Latif Abdullah Abdul Hadi Al-Jusaari was arrested in Syria in early 2006 and was still in custody there as of May 2006. End note.) ¶8. (U) The final appeal for these cases is currently scheduled for a hearing on May 15, 2007 before the Court of Cassation, Kuwait's supreme court. Six defendants are still fugitives, including two of the group's leaders, Mohsen Fadel Ayed Al-Fadly and Khaled Abdullah Faleh Al-Dosari. ********************************************* * For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s Visit Kuwait's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ ********************************************* * Tueller