Shafaq News- Basra

An Iraqi court sentenced activist Alaa Al-Bakhatri to six months in prison over alleged protests and attacks targeting the Kuwaiti consulate in Basra following the killing of an Iraqi fisherman by Kuwaiti Coast Guard fire, an informed source told Shafaq News on Monday.

Al-Bakhatri had been detained for more than two months before the ruling, the source said, without specifying his alleged role in the unrest or the charges on which he was convicted.

The protests erupted after a Kuwaiti Coast Guard patrol opened fire on an Iraqi fishing boat near the maritime border on July 3, killing fisherman Najm Abdullah Khalid and wounding Thaer Mohammed Salman, sparking protests that demanded greater protection for Iraqi fishermen operating in the northern Gulf. Iraq's Foreign Ministry later stated that the Kuwaiti Coast Guard had not intentionally caused the casualties.