A Kuwait court began the trial today of 37 Islamists charged with links to Al Qaeda violence and prosecutors demanded the death penalty for more than half of them.
Hooded special forces commandoes manned the courtroom and heavy security was placed outside the sprawling Justice Palace building in the capital, Kuwait City.
The defendants, shackled at their ankles, complained they were not able to meet their lawyers before the session. Seven of the 15 defence attorneys walked out in protest.
"Even Saddam Hussein, the biggest criminal in the world, got to talk to lawyers and we didn't," said defendant Sheikh Hamed al-Ali, a firebrand cleric.
Reporters said several militants denied the charges, saying confessions were extracted under duress, and lifted their shirts to show the judge what they said were torture marks. Later, the judge adjourned the trial to June 11th.
Judicial sources say prosecutors have demanded the death penalty for about 20 suspects for four shootouts in January in which nine Islamists and four security personnel were killed.
The group is suspected of links to militants in neighbouring Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Police said some confessed to planning suicide attacks against US military and Western targets in Kuwait and say they have seized large weapons caches.
Used as the main launch pad for the 2003 war in Iraq, Kuwait hosts up to 30,000 US troops and is the main transit route into Iraq. Some 13,000 U.S. citizens live in Kuwait