Kuwaiti cleric returns home from exile after Emir pardon

Hussain Al MatuqCairo: Kuwaiti cleric Hussain Al Matuq, convicted in an Iran-related espionage case, has returned home under an amnesty from the country’s Emir after nearly three years in self-exile.

Kuwaiti media showed dozens of people welcoming Sheikh Al Matuq after his return from Iran.

The cleric is the latest in a number of ex-opposition lawmakers and activists who recently returned to Kuwait from self-exile after they were pardoned by Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah.

In 2019, a top Kuwaiti court sentenced Al Matuq to five years in prison on charges of sheltering a group linked to Iran and allied Hezbollah.

Sheikh Nawaf has recently issued two decrees pardoning and commuting jail terms of a total of 35 Kuwaitis..

The amnesty was long sought by the Kuwaiti opposition in the parliament to end a standoff with the government.

Under this amnesty, authorities earlier this month released 20 Kuwaitis, who were earlier convicted of covering up defendants in a 2015 case, dubbed Al Abdali Cell, charged with spying for Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah movement.