Kuwait’s Shia MPs boycott parliament amid protests over death sentences

Shia Muslim lawmakers boycotted a Kuwaiti parliament session on Wednesday, witnesses said, as sectarian tensions rose over death sentences imposed by a Kuwaiti court on two men convicted of spying.

An outspoken Shia MP complained that the trial and sentences were being used to imply that Kuwait’s Shia community was collaborating with other countries.

“Popular anger, especially among Kuwaiti Shias, has reached a peak in recent days,” the MP, Saleh Ashoor, wrote on his Twitter account.

Witnesses said all nine Shia MPs in the 50-member Kuwaiti parliament stayed away from a session yesterday and today.

• Kuwait