Lebanese couple sentenced to death for killing Joanna Demafelis

A Kuwaiti criminal court has sentenced a Lebanese man and his Syrian wife to death by hanging for killing their Philipinna maid Joanna Demafelis, the 29-year-old maid whose body was found in a freezer in Kuwait earlier this year. on Sunday, Kuwaiti newspapers reported.

The Lebanese man admitted killing the maid a year ago in what became known as the Freezer Body case. Following that, the  General Attorney in Lebanon charged the man with killing his maid and putting her body in a freezer.

Lebanese authorities arrested the man last month and he was referred to justice authorities in Southern Lebanon because he is a resident of Saidon, a city in Southern Lebanon. The man’s wife, a Syrian, is still at large.

Security authorities in Kuwait had announced almost two months ago that the body of the maid was found in a freezer in the flat where the couple resided for a long period of time and said they had left the country.

Kuwaiti authorities informed Lebanese security officials who arrested the man but refused to extradite him and decided to put him on trial in Lebanon. His wife is still at a place unknown in Syria.
The crime caused a crisis between Kuwait and the Philippines after which Manila ordered its workforce to leave the country and put on hold all applications for work in Kuwait by its citizens.

The Demafelis murder triggered a diplomatic crisis between Kuwait and the Philippines, prompting Manila to impose a departure ban for its citizens planning to work in the Gulf state.

An estimated 252,000 Filipinos and Filipinas work in Kuwait and depend on remittances to help their families back home.

Rights groups have raised alarm around the plight of workers in the Gulf and other Arab countries, where migrant labor is regulated under a system known as “kafala.”

The kafala, or sponsorship, system ties migrant workers’ visas to their employers, prohibiting workers from leaving or changing jobs without prior consent.