Kuwait City: A criminal court on Sunday sentenced an Iraqi fisherman to death for killing a Kuwaiti coast guard in a January 2011 shootout.
Taha Mahmoud Shabhan was handed the sentence for the death of Abdul Rahman Al Enezi after the Iraqi fishing vessel crossed into the country’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.
