The court found Nasra Al-Enezi, a 23-year-old mother of two, guilty of arson and murder over last August’s wedding tent blaze.
Al-Enezi was arrested after fire consumed the tent where her husband was holding his wedding party in the Al-Jahra tribal district.
Al-Enezi’s attorney said prosecutors accused his client of burning down the tent to sabotage the wedding. He said she confessed to police but denied the accusations in court saying she was at home at the time of the fire.
An investigation showed the tent could seat 200 people but had only one exit, causing a stampede that compounded the death toll. Kuwait banned wedding tents after the incident. Judge Adel Al-Sager read out the verdict against Al-Enezi, at the court of first instance.
The woman who was not present in the court was found guilty of “premeditated murder and starting a fire with the intent to kill.”
Press reports at the time of the blaze said Al-Enezi had wanted to avenge her husband’s “bad treatment” of her, but in court she denied any involvement in the incident.
Defense lawyer Zaid Al-Khabbaz vowed he would prove Al-Enezi’s innocence in the higher courts and said the verdict had been influenced by public opinion.
“The ruling was very harsh against a woman who is innocent,” Al-Khabbaz said. “It is a political judgment rather than a criminal ruling because the court came under the influence of public opinion.” He said the public prosecution failed to “unequivocally prove that Al-Enezi was the perpetrator. The case contained many legal loopholes.” Al-Khabbaz said the defense team was considering contacting international human rights organizations in a bid to save Al-Enezi’s life. He also said the defense team would have a better opportunity to prove her innocence in the appeals and supreme courts.
At her first hearing in October, the suspect denied the charges.
At another hearing, an Asian domestic helper testified in court that she saw Al-Enezi pour petrol and start the fire at the wedding tent in Jahra, about 40 km west of Kuwait City.
Her defense lawyers had alleged at the time of Al-Enezi’s arrest on Aug. 16, she was two months pregnant but that the embryo was “deliberately aborted” by a prison guard with the help of an Asian nurse.
If Al-Enezi’s sentence is upheld by higher courts, she would be the first Kuwaiti woman to be executed in the history of the Gulf state.
