On 4 June 1994 the State Secrity Court sentenced six men to death following their conviction on charges of participation in an alleged assassination attempt on former US President George Bush. The sentences are due to be reviewed within the next 30 days; if upheld, they will have to be ratified by the Amir of Kuwait before execution. AI is concerned that the trial was not fair: the defendants were denied the basic right to have a lawyer defending them at all stages of proceedings and the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty was jeopardized by statements made by the public prosecutor and by the US Government. AI opposes the death penalty in all cases.
