KUWAIT: TWO MORE CONVICTS EXECUTED

June 18, 2013: two Egyptians were put to death in the Central Prison of Salibiya at around 8am in the presence of the public prosecutor and other legal officials. It was Kuwait’s second round of executions since it ended its de facto moratorium on the use of the death penalty in April. Hajjaj Saadi, 37, was hanged for the abduction and rape of 17 children under the age of 10, the public prosecution said. Arrested in July 2007 as he prepared to board a flight to Luxor in Egypt, he became known as “the Hawalli monster'' for the district near Kuwait City where the crimes took place. The authorities said Saadi had confessed to raping 17 boys and girls after luring them onto rooftops in Hawalli, an area mainly inhabited by foreigners 12 kilometers south of the capital. Courts condemned him to death in 10 separate cases, and to life in prison in three other cases. The sentences were upheld by the Court of Appeals and the Court of Cassation. Saadi, who complained shortly before his execution that Egypt has not given him any assistance, denied the crimes and insisted his confessions were extracted under duress. Another Egyptian man, Ahmad Abdulsalam al-Baili, was executed at the same time after he was found guilty of killing an Asian couple by setting on fire their home in April 2008, said the prosecution. Later he tried to kill an Egyptian couple the same way. They survived despite suffering injuries. Three other men on death row were also scheduled to be put to death, but their case was postponed after the victims’ families have reportedly forgiven them.
On April 1, a Pakistani, a Saudi and a stateless man were hanged as Kuwait carried out its first execution since May 2007 when a drug trafficker was put to death. According to the local media, 46 convicts are on death row. (Sources: Gulf News, 18/06/2013)