The Trial Over Hezbollah Funding Opens In Kuwait

In a session held behind closed doors on Tuesday, Kuwaiti and expatriate defendants appeared in court on charges of funding Lebanon's pro-Iran Hezbollah movement illegally.

According to the Al Qabas newspaper, the Criminal Court barred audiences from attending the first hearing, during which the defendants all pleaded not guilty.

A request for lifting the travel ban on defendants from the defence lawyers was rejected by the court.

To allow for more time to examine evidence related to this high-profile case, the hearings were postponed until June 21.

Eleven Kuwaitis as well as seven expats employed at foreign exchange offices were indicted for allegedly making illegal financial transfers.

There was no information about the nationality of the foreign defendants.

They were previously released from detention after posting bail with a ban on travel.

A cell suspected of financing Hezbollah and having connections to the group was dismantled by Kuwait in November.

A Kuwaiti State Security Service inquiry found that the suspects had been laundering money for Hezbollah, encouraging Kuwaiti youths to enter into collaboration with the group, and carrying out terror acts and smuggling drugs, according to Kuwaiti media.

When Kuwait's then-information minister made comments supporting Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi rebels during a diplomatic crisis with Lebanon, the case surfaced. The crisis was defused after Kurdahi resigned in December.

A thaw in Kuwaiti and Saudi Arabian relations was signalled by the return of their ambassadors to Lebanon in April.

The Kuwaiti government has arrested several people linked to or funding Hezbollah in recent years.

Kuwait exposed a group for spying for Iran and Hezbollah, dubbed Al Abadli Cell, in 2015 and accused them of stockpiling weapons.

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