(MENAFN- Arab Times) Kuwait's appeals court on Monday reduced a death sentence on two Iranians and a Kuwaiti to life in prison and upheld a life term on a stateless man on charges of spying for Iran, a judiciary source said.
The court headed by Justice Anwar Al-Enezi, however confirmed the acquittal of a man and a woman, both Iranians, while a Syrian who was sentenced to life by the lower court too was acquitted, the source said.
The two Iranians and the Kuwaiti who were handed the life terms worked for the Kuwaiti army at the time of their arrest in May 2010.
The defendants were accused of spying for Iran and of passing information on the Kuwaiti and US military in the country to the Islamic republic's Revolutionary Guards, an accusation Iran has denied.
The defendants, throughout the trial, denied the charges and insisted they had been tortured to extract confessions.
The case strained relations between Kuwait and neighbouring Iran, prompting a tit-for-tat expulsion of diplomats.
Ambassadors and diplomats later returned to both capitals following a visit by Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi to Kuwait City on May 11 last year.
The ruling is not final as the case will now go to Kuwait's supreme court where a final verdict will be issued.
Attorney Ali Al-Asfour said his client â€" the seventh defendant, has been acquitted because he was innocent of all charges against him. He added that revoking death penalty against the first and second defendants and giving them life imprisonment affirms the ambiguity in the verdict of the lower court.
He indicated an appeal would be filed to contest the ruling, based on legal integrity of the defendants.
Meanwhile, attorney of another defendant, Dawkhi Al-Hasban said he is glad the Appeals Court has revoked the lower court's ruling which violated application of the law, affirming there was no evidence to indict his client.
He also considered accusations against his client as defamatory to the man and his family, given that their family has served the country for many years.
Another defendant's attorney, Mishari Al-Eyadah, said "the Appeals Court searched deeply for the truth and came out with this ruling".
He affirmed that his client (a woman) does not have any criminal record and couldn't have been involved in the case, "that's why she has been acquitted", he noted.
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