120 interrogated on charges of forging official documents – Some on the run

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KUWAIT CITY, Aug 27: A senior judicial source says 120 citizens who are accused of obtaining Kuwaiti nationality through fraudulent ways have been interrogated by the Public Prosecution so far this year, reports Al-Qabas daily.

He indicated that the General Public Prosecutor decided to bring these citizens to trial on charges of forging official documents. The source stressed that this number is huge compared to the previous years, attributing this to the huge role played by the General Department for Citizenship and Passport Affairs in referring to Public Prosecution those people who are found to be involved in falsification of official documents relating to citizenship. He explained that some of the accused are still at large outside the country and court rulings will be issued against them in absentia.

However, majority of them are currently in the Central Prison and are awaiting judicial decisions. Several rulings were issued by the Court of First Instance against those involved in these cases and most of them are jail terms of 5-15 years. If any case reaches the Cassation Court and ends up being convicted, it means the fraud will be proven and citizenship shall be withdrawn.

The source revealed that a large number of the defendants were registered as children of Kuwaiti citizens when in reality they are citizens of neighboring Arab countries and wanted to take advantage of the benefits provided by the State of Kuwait to its citizens, adding that some of these defendants were appointed in state institutions as Kuwaitis.

He also revealed that amount ranging between KD 10,000- KD 20,000 was paid for adding a child to the citizenship file of a Kuwaiti citizen.

Meanwhile, a list with names of children of widows and divorced wives of Kuwaiti men who meet the conditions for naturalization has been submitted to the Higher Citizenship Committee, reports Al-Shahed daily quoting informed sources from Ministry of Interior.

They indicated that other lists including one with names of Bedoun residents who are registered in the 1965 census and whose files have been thoroughly reviewed to ensure fairness are expected to be submitted soon.

The sources explained that a thorough study of the files of Bedoun residents was carried out. They will be classified as those who are proven to have been present in the country before 1960 and the employees of Kuwait Oil Company and they will be granted privileges until the time of their naturalization.

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