Sheikh’s dilemma over death sentence

In the in-tray of the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (pictured), is a thorny problem: whether to allow one of his relatives to be put to death or whether to risk the country’s lawyers by granting him a pardon.

Sheikh Talal Nasser al-Sabah, a nephew of the previous Emir, was sentenced to death recently by a court in the oil-rich Gulf state, as is the norm, for possession of 22lb of cocaine and 165lb of hashish. It is the first time that a member of a Gulf royal family has been condemned to death by a court.

The sheikh, in his fifties, protested that he was not a dealer but an addict, but he was told by the judge that he had "willingly walked the path of evil" and deserved no mercy. Now, he has pleaded with the Emir for clemency, formally declaring in the Kuwaiti press that senior members of the Royal Family are lobbying for him. (Continued below)

The issue is widely seen as a test case between family ties and the rule of law though it seems the Emir, whose family has ruled since 1752, will lose either way. After the sentence was passed, Najib al-Wugayyan, a prominent criminal lawyer, called the verdict "a magnificent indication to all that nobody is above the law".