The men, who were only identified by their initials, Y S, 20, and H A, 19, were convicted of torturing fellow Kuwaiti student Mubarak Meshaal Al Mubarak, 19, for three days last year, .
The first-year student died in hospital on February 25, last year after suffering internal bleeding, burns and multiple fractures.
The men claimed they had a financial dispute with Al Mubarak, who had reportedly failed to payback AED100,000 ($27,225). They also accused him of harassing one of their sisters.
Police found a six-minute video recording on one of the student’s mobile phones that showed the victim being physically abused and tortured.
The victim’s family had requested the death penalty after refusing to accept “blood money” from the family of one of the defendants, in a common practice in the Gulf.
A third man, believed to also be Kuwaiti, fled the UAE after the incident, the court heard. He was fined AED1000 ($272) in his absence for covering up a crime and failing to report it to authorities.
Prosecutors have attempted to extradite him.
The men have 15 days to appeal.