Kuwait executes seven, including two women

Hangings are first in the country since 2017

Kuwait Constitutional Court in Kuwait city. The Gulf country said seven people were executed after all litigation was 'exhausted'

Kuwaiti authorities have carried out the death sentence on seven people convicted of murder, including two women, in the first executions in the Gulf country since 2017.

Prosecutors said the executions were carried out by hanging after the death sentences were approved by Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Nawaf.

An Ethiopian woman and a Kuwaiti woman were hanged on Wednesday, along with five men — three Kuwaitis, a Syrian and a Pakistani.

The executions are the first since January 25, 2017, when Kuwait also hanged seven people, including a member of the royal family.

Kuwait has executed dozens of people since it introduced the death penalty in the mid-1960s. Most of the executions have been for murderer or drug trafficking.

In April 2013, three men convicted of murder were hanged. Two months later, two Egyptians convicted of murder and abduction were executed.

Kuwait’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the death sentences came in accordance with the Kuwaiti Penal Code 16 of 1960 and its amendments “after exhausting all levels of litigation”.

“These sentences, which were implemented, were based on conclusive evidence that the convicts committed the crimes ascribed to them,” said Ghanim Al Ghanim, Kuwaiti Assistant Foreign Minister for Legal Affairs.

“The evidence varied between witness testimonies and the defendants’ admission of their guilt. These were very serious crimes.”

The first death sentence was carried out in Kuwait on May 17, 1964. To date, 84 people have been executed, including 20 Kuwaitis and 15 Pakistanis.