How this archive is classified
The Imam al-Sadiq Mosque case is marked solved or adjudicated with a boundary. Named defendants received distinct outcomes, the highest court upheld the principal collaborator's sentence, and that sentence was carried out in 2023. Five trial death sentences were imposed in absentia, so the label is not a claim that every defendant or operational link reached the same final stage.
Why is this a Kuwait case?
The attack occurred at the Imam al-Sadiq Mosque in Kuwait City. Kuwaiti authorities investigated the attack, prosecuted 29 defendants and conducted the trial and appellate proceedings summarized here.
What is established?
On 26 June 2015, a Saudi suicide attacker detonated explosives during Friday prayers, killing 26 other people and wounding 227. Courts convicted several people while acquitting 14 defendants.
What remains bounded?
Five defendants initially sentenced to death were tried while absent. The archive therefore limits its final-status claim to the adjudicated defendants and does not imply that every fugitive or wider network member was captured.
How are cross-border verdicts handled?
The Demafelis file records each jurisdiction separately: Kuwait imposed in-absentia sentences, Syria later convicted Mona Hassoun, and no final Lebanese disposition is claimed.
Why use non-graphic artwork?
The visual system uses mosque architecture, a memorial light and court-file motifs rather than graphic aftermath, invented portraits or imagery presented as evidence.
Kuwait archive FAQ
How many case files are published?
Crime by Region currently publishes four verified Kuwait case files.
Which case is included?
The archive includes the Imam al-Sadiq Mosque bombing proceedings, the Al-Jahra wedding-fire case and the murder of Joanna Demafelis.
How many people were killed?
The attacker killed 26 other people. Sources that include the attacker in the total may describe 27 fatalities.
Were all 29 defendants convicted?
No. The trial produced seven death sentences, including five in absentia, eight prison terms and 14 acquittals.
Why is the status bounded?
The principal collaborator's conviction reached final review, but the site does not describe absent defendants or every wider operational link as conclusively resolved.
Why is the artwork symbolic?
Symbolic archive art avoids false evidence, invented likenesses and graphic treatment of victims.
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