FIRST SINCE 2017, KUWAIT EXECUTES SEVEN PEOPLE FOR MURDER

KUWAIT CITY/BRUSSELS: Kuwait put seven people to death for murder on Wednesday, the public prosecutions service said, as the first executions since 2017 went ahead despite appeals from a prominent rights group.

One Ethiopian woman and one Kuwaiti woman were among those hanged, along with three Kuwaiti men, a Syrian and a Pakistani, a statement said. The executions are the first since January 25, 2017, when the oil-rich Gulf country also hanged a group of seven people, including one member of the royal family.

Meanwhile, the EU on Wednesday summoned Kuwait’s ambassador and warned the Gulf country’s bid to get visa-free travel to the bloc was at risk because of its execution of seven people.

EU commissioner Margaritis Schinas said “consequences” will be drawn from the executions, which he alleged took place despite him receiving “assurances to the contrary” from Kuwaiti officials.

Schinas, who is tasked with “promoting our European way of life”, was in Kuwait to discuss that issue and others when the executions were carried out.

“We will draw the consequences that this will have on the discussions... to put Kuwait on the visa free list.”