Kuwait appeal court overturns terror conviction

The highest court of appeal in Kuwait today overturned the conviction of a former Guantánamo Bay prisoner, acquitting him of terror-related charges, his lawyer said.

Nasser al-Mutairi, who returned to Kuwait last year after almost three years in the US military prison in Cuba, had been sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for joining a foreign military force without permission, harming Kuwait by serving the interest of a “foreign country” and undergoing illegal weapons training.

Al-Mutairi (aged 28), a Muslim fundamentalist, was captured by US forces in Afghanistan in 2001 during the “war on terror” campaign that followed the September 11 attacks on the US.

His lawyer, Nawwaf al-Mutairi, who is not related to his client, said the court had found his client “did not commit anything criminal”.

Al-Mutairi said the judgment was handed down this morning, but court officials could not be reached to confirm.

The ruling was “a gift to all Guantánamo returnees”, the lawyer said.

Eight Kuwaitis have come home since serving in Guantánamo, the main US detention facility for alleged terrorists captured in Afghanistan and other places. Two are currently in Kuwaiti detention.

The remainder stood trial on terror charges but were acquitted.

Another four Kuwaitis remain in Guantánamo.

Al-Mutairi stood trial soon after his return to Kuwait in January 2005. A criminal court acquitted him in June, but months later an appeals court ruled that he was guilty and sentenced him to five years in jail.

Today’s decision by the Court of Cassation is final.

Scores of young Kuwaitis have fought alongside Muslim militants in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya and Iraq.

The Kuwaiti government has been allied to Washington since US-led forces liberated the country from Iraqi occupation in the 1991 Gulf War.