Kuwait to pardon more prisoners next year amid overcrowding

Kuwait will increase the number of prisoners set to be covered by an amnesty law next year as the country’s prisons face overcrowding and potential health hazards, local media reported on Tuesday.

Al Qabas newspaper said the amnesty law will include the immediate release of certain inmates, while convicts of different nationalities could be deported to spend the rest of their sentences in their home countries.

The Gulf emirate will launch an electronic tagging system from next week for Kuwaiti convicts either on bail or probation, allowing those with sentences of up to three years to stay at home.

Those serving longer time can only benefit from the new system in the last three years of their sentence.

The Bidoon - people indigenous to the country who have been denied Kuwaiti citizenship - will also benefit from the ruling.

Overcrowding in correction centres, along with a lack of flights to deport foreign inmates, has forced local authorities to temporarily suspend their clampdown on those breaking labour and residency laws in Kuwait.

This especially caused a problem with the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.