KUWAIT: Kuwait lacks a legislation that criminalizes the Islamic State (IS), therefore persons accused of belonging to the terrorist organization cannot be convicted. This is according to a recent court order which acquitted a Kuwaiti man of charges of fighting with IS in Syria, saying that the court does not have the jurisdiction to decide on whether a society, group or organization was banned or not.

According to the sentence paper made on October 21, 2015, says that 'while the legislator has banned societies, associations or groups that spread principles that seek destruction of the basic standards of the country, he did not give specifications on considering a society, group or organization as illegal, nor did he authorize a legal tool by which this can be determined."

"If a suspect had joined the so-called Islamic State, and regardless of the principles that the group is based on and which the court has no say in, his action cannot be considered a criminal one," Al-Qabas daily reported yesterday quoting the sentence papers.

GCC blacklist

In other news, Al-Jarida daily reported quoting government sources saying that Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries plan soon to issue a unified list that includes names if terrorists, fugitives and deportees on order to prevent them from moving from one GCC state to another. In addition to his or her name, the list would include a person's fingerprint or eye print, the source said, adding that this issue has been discussed during a recent meeting for GCC interior ministers. - Al-Qabas, Al-Jarida