Kuwait jails Pinay for joining jihadists

KUWAIT CITY—A Kuwaiti court on Monday sentenced a Filipino woman to 10 years in jail after convicting her of joining the Islamic State jihadist group and plotting terror attacks.

The ruling, which is not final, also calls for the deportation of the 32-year-old woman after serving her jail term.

The woman was arrested in August, two months after arriving in the oil-rich Gulf state to work as a domestic helper.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), however,  is still verifying the reported conviction of the  Filipino woman.

According to DFA spokesperson Charles Jose,  the DFA was still in the process of confirming the conviction of the Filipino domestic helper.

But Jose assured that the arrested Filipino woman would be given assistance by the embassy.

“Our embassy is prepared to extend legal and consular assistance to the OFW to make sure that she gets due process and her rights are not violated,” he said, referring to the Philippine embassy in Kuwait.

At the time of her arrest, the Kuwait interior ministry said she had confessed to being a member of the Islamic State group and was plotting terrorist attacks in the emirate.

The woman told interrogators that her husband was an active fighter with IS in Libya and he had asked her to come to Kuwait from the Philippines as a domestic helper, according to the ministry.

The Maute group, an IS-affiliated group in the Philippines, has conducted a string of bombings in Mindanao. The Abu Sayyaf which also supports IS is involved in kidnappings for ransom of foreign tourists and Christian missionaries in southern Philippines. —AFP WITH A REPORT BY JEANNETTE I. ANDRADE