Kuwait Jails Policemen for Life over Torture Death

A Kuwaiti court on Tuesday sentenced two police officers to life in prison and handed three others 16-year jail terms for torturing a man to death last year.

The criminal court also issued prison sentences to another two other officers, one to 15 years in jail and another for two years.

Two other policemen were each fined 200 dinars ($720), while the remaining 11 defendants were acquitted, including two foreigners who worked at the police station.

The verdicts are not final and can still be appealed before higher courts.

All the defendants were charged with torturing four detainees at the police station in January 2011. One of the victims, 35-year-old Mohammad Ghazzai al-Mutairi, died of his injuries.

The incident shocked the Kuwaiti public and led to the resignation of former interior minister Sheikh Jaber Khaled al-Sabah.

A parliamentary panel investigation found that Mutairi had apparently been subjected to severe torture for six days, including three days in a remote desert location.