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.

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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/
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Tueller