KUWAIT: DEATH FOR IRAQI FISHERMAN FOR KILLING KUWAITI COAST GUARD

A Kuwait criminal court sentenced an Iraqi fisherman to death for killing a Kuwaiti coast guard in a January 2011 shootout. Taha Mahmud Sabhan was handed the sentence for the death of Abdulrahman Al-Enezi after the Iraqi fishing vessel crossed into Kuwait’s territorial waters.
In the same case, the court sentenced two other Iraqi fishermen to three years in jail each and a minor to one year. All four were captured after their boat capsized following the shootout.
Four other fishermen, who managed to flee, were sentenced to life in jail in absentia.
The sentences have to be reviewed by the court of appeals and Kuwait’s supreme court.
Kuwait’s interior ministry said the clash took place when the Iraqi fishermen refused orders from the cost guards to stop after crossing into Kuwaiti territorial waters. The coast guards often seize Iraqi fishing boats and detain fishermen for illegal entry.
According to court records, the eight Iraqi sailors were in possession of weapons while illegally sailing in a boat off Kuwait’s territorial waters. They engaged Kuwait’s Coast Guard officers in a gun battle after ignoring orders from the latter to stop for questioning, in the course of which the Kuwaiti officer died, while the Iraqi boat capsized.