Sheikh Salem Al-Sabah added in a press conference held on Thursday morning: “I categorically reject interference in our internal affairs from anyone, especially from our friends, and I reject more than categorically, interference in the decisions and work of our judicial apparatus from anyone.”
He stressed that Kuwait is “a democratic country and we are proud of that, and we are proud of our system and the separation of powers in the country. We have no right, as a government or an individual, to interfere in the work of the judiciary, let alone with external parties.”
“The decisions of our judiciary are independent, without any complete interference from inside or outside Kuwait,” he added.
The Kuwaiti minister expressed his hope that European countries would not politicize the issue of exempting Kuwaitis from the “Schengen” visa, pointing out that it is a negotiation process that has been going on for years, stressing that the exemption is not an end in itself, but a means to create a comfortable travel environment for our people and strengthen popular relations with other countries. European Union.
The foreign minister’s press conference comes in the wake of a statement made by the Vice-President of the European Commission, Margaret Schinas, in which he dealt with the issue of carrying out death sentences in Kuwait, on Wednesday, saying that this would have “ramifications for the discussions related to the proposal to place Kuwait on the list of countries exempt from the Schengen visa” on the matter. As he said.
The Kuwaiti Foreign Minister added, “Today I will meet the German member of the European Parliament, and I will explain our point of view to him. I will also participate tomorrow, Friday, in the Manama Dialogue, and I will also meet the European participants there to explain our point of view.”
And the Kuwaiti Public Prosecution announced, on Wednesday, the execution of the death sentence by hanging against 7 people who were convicted of committing premeditated murder. Death sentences were carried out inside the central prison against four Kuwaitis, including a woman and an Ethiopian, in addition to a Syrian and a Pakistani, according to the statement of the Public Prosecution.
These are the first death sentences carried out in Kuwait since January 2017, when Kuwait carried out a death sentence at that time against seven people, including a member of the ruling family, after they were convicted of premeditated murder.
In response to the implementation of the Kuwaiti ruling, the European Union summoned, on Wednesday, Kuwait’s ambassador in Brussels, while the European Commission announced that the implementation of the death sentence against 7 people will affect Kuwait’s status on the list of countries exempted from “Schengen”.
Commission Vice-President Margaret Schinas stressed that the European Union is firmly opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances.
Schinas said that this will have repercussions on the discussions related to the proposal to put Kuwait on the list of countries exempt from the Schengen visa, pointing out that this is an issue that also needs to be discussed in the context of the upcoming human rights dialogue next week between the European Union and Kuwait.
