Cassation Court upholds 3-year prison term in ISIS membership case
The Court of Cassation has rejected an appeal and upheld a three-year prison sentence for a citizen convicted of joining ISIS and receiving military training in Syria.
The ruling, issued by a court presided over by Judge Sultan Boursli, confirms the sentence imposed by the Court of Appeals, which had reduced the Criminal Court’s original five-year sentence to three years.
The Public Prosecution had accused the defendant of joining ISIS in Iraq and Syria while knowing the group’s objectives and of engaging in activities that could harm Kuwait’s national interests.
According to the case file, testimony from a State Security officer and the defendant’s statements during the investigation, authorities received information indicating that he had joined the organization and was scheduled to return to Kuwait from Turkey. Following a Public Prosecution warrant, he was arrested upon arrival at Kuwait International Airport.
During questioning, the defendant said he had traveled with his family to Pakistan in 2000 before moving to Syria. He said he adopted an extremist jihadist ideology at a young age and contacted a Syrian acquaintance who had joined ISIS in 2016 with the intention of joining the organization.
He said he subsequently went to an ISIS headquarters in the al-Tall area of rural Damascus, provided his personal information and was later transported with other recruits to an ISIS camp, where he pledged allegiance to the group’s then-leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The defendant also admitted undergoing about 30 days of military training covering firearms and ammunition, combat tactics and physical conditioning.
He further stated that he later surrendered to Free Army groups after they took control of the area, remained in detention for about 30 days and subsequently moved between several Syrian regions. According to his statements, he remained a member of ISIS until 2019.
