Kuwait’s Court of Cassation on Monday sentenced 13 citizens to three years in prison for raising funds through a charity to support Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
The court also fined them 27 million Kuwaiti dinars ($87 million), overturning a previous acquittal by a lower court.
The court that issued the sentencing was presided over by Judge Abdullah Jassim Al-Abdullah.
Initially, the Criminal Court had acquitted the defendants, citing the absence of legislation explicitly criminalizing unlicensed fundraising for public purposes since the establishment of Kuwait's Social Affairs Department on December 14, 1954.
The court said this legal gap limited its authority under Article 132 of the Code of Criminal Procedures and Trials. However, the decision was reversed by the higher court.
The defendants had been interrogated in November 2021 over alleged financial support to organizations linked to Hezbollah.
At the time, the Public Prosecution ordered their detention, and security authorities conducted extensive investigations into financial transfers suspected of funding such groups in Lebanon.
The case dates back to November 2021. The charges included significant financial transfers made over several years to foreign entities, including in Lebanon, prompting authorities to scrutinize transaction records.
The defendants denied the charges, claiming they had worked with a charity committee for 30 years, primarily sponsoring orphans in Lebanon and other countries.
In March 2024, the Court of Cassation classified Hezbollah as a banned terrorist group, describing it as an armed organization working to undermine Kuwait’s system and spread Iran’s revolutionary ideology.
The ruling officially confirmed Hezbollah’s designation as a terrorist entity under Kuwaiti law.
