Kuwait’s Shia lawmakers boycott parliamentary session

Kuwait’s Shia MPs have boycotted yesterday’s parliamentary session after a Kuwaiti court sentenced 23 Kuwaiti Shias to prison or death on charges of spying for Iran Hezbollah.

Saleh Ahmad Ashour, one of the nine MPs who took part in the protest, wrote on Twitter: “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 Lebanese Shia militia, Hezbollah.”

On Tuesday, a lower court sentenced 26 people including 23 Shias on charges of collaborating with Iran and Hezbollah, smuggling weapons and planning to carry out bombings in the Gulf state.

The court sentences come at a time when Gulf-Iranian relations have been tense in the wake of the diplomatic crisis that has erupted between Saudi Arabia and Iran following the execution of Shia Saudi cleric Sheikh Nimr Al-Nimr.

Shia Muslims make up about one-third of Kuwait’s population, totalling nearly 1.3 million.

Also read:

• Kuwait sentences 2 to death for spying for Iran, Hezbollah.