A reader recently spent over a month in prison for driving his mum’s car without having a driving license (he nearly got deported too). He wrote about his experience on his blog, and you can check out his post [Here]
The part I found interesting is how prisoners get free cigarette packs. I wonder if that decision was made to prevent or cut down on drug use and violence. It’s interesting because I’ve never heard of a prison doing that before. The cost on the government to supply cigarettes to all the inmates for free must be ginormous.
Update: The writer has now edited his post based on the advice of his lawyer and removed certain parts including the part about free cigarettes.
35 replies on “What its Like Inside a Prison in Kuwait”
I haven’t been IN detention in Kuwait, but I have gone to the immigration detention center – it is deplorable! There had to be 30-40 women in one big room, with rickety metal bunk beds, the ladies said there was only one bathroom, no soap, no towels, many slept on mattresses on the floor, many had NOTHING as they were picked up and brought directly. It is a sad sad situation.
I suspect it might not be too smart to publicly advertise how his dad “found someone who deleted my entire deportation case outta the Kuwait system”.
Yep, not too smart at all.
I hope someone who gets caught up in that same scenario doesn’t tell the judge “well the inked expat’s father got his son out of deportation” so why am I getting deported.
Also the fact that he has mentioned his name and phone number on the blog. Not a smart person at all!
Wow! Poor kid. Dumb thing to do but really a month and 17 days inside is way too much. I suppose if an accident had happened then it could have been really serious. So hopefully lesson learned although I was sad to see him mention publicly at the end how his file was expunged from the system as this could implicate his father and certainly whoever helped him. Although as a first offender there is a miniscule chance this could have been done legally which I hope is the case.
Month and 17 days too much?
I was detained at the same place (deportation centre) and I stayed in for 4 months :’)
And all I did was driving my friend (A Kuwaiti Citizen) to the Farwaniya hospital .. I had no licnese on me but the learners license (استمارة – Istimara) that too stamped & signed , all I had to do was get my license printed the next morning … but it never happened.
I was 21 too and a student at AOU but never got spared.
I wish I can put my experience into words
There’s a lot to talk about.
He should remove his name from the blog.
Yeah cause the inked expat is his real name.
@lolguy.. It’s very easy to trace.
Can someone explain the ‘beaten up because he had tattoos’ part to me?
Had tattoos, got beaten up.
Thanks, that cleared it up. Why though?
with that kind of wasta he should have got his driver’s license
My exact thoughts.
Hey guys, nick here, so’I’ve taken down anything that would harm me or have any legal activities towards me. So, don’t worry, everything has been sorted.
too bad bruh , but google caches everything
He should go back to prison for how bad he writes
My thoughts exactly!
I think cigarettes are supplied along with 2 meals every day in accordance with the Geneva Convention. The Geneva Convention only applies to the deportation prison, not the regular prison within a country (as far as I know the Central Prison does not distribute cigarettes).
Having had friends on the inside for over 3 months now, I can confirm the craziness that happens if you are ever detained by any law enforcement in Kuwait.
The lack of information given to the detained and their family is madness. Don’t think your embassy is getting any information either. Can they help, yes depends on how busy they are, but only with your welfare, nothing else.
What ever is written in your report is properly a right out lie and the investigators/police are ….. , so if you have wasta be sure to use it. Because if your planing on going the rightful way, good luck with that.
Conditions inside is not like you see on television from Indonesia or Mexico, but not a far cry from it. Red Crescent is helping out as much as they can, but themselves are struggling with a old and corrupt system.
One thing is for sure, money talks. If you don’t have any and your friends and family isn’t able to help you, you can be in for a long long time without even a sentence.
Piece of advice to whomever wants to be on the safe side:
Write yourself a long detailed letter with all information needed in case shit hits the fan.
– phone numbers / contact details to next of kind
– Bank codes and online transfer details
– contact details to a lawyer
– your insurance details
– any kind of wasta contact details
– friends who might be able to help
– your work details
– savings, savings, savings.. and how to access it
Most important memorize a phone number to whom you have given the above details too, because your phone will be taken from you and if you cant remember any numbers… you can only imagine the rest.
Second the fastest your help is getting to you the better your chances of getting out fast and intact.
Most welcome and good luck
Geheime Staatspolizei.
Mark it’s really sad to see you to share someone’s blog post who’s writing skills are so low!
who cares about their writing skills? its an interesting story and easily understandable. this isnt a literary blog and Im sure the writers grasp of English is a lot better than our grasp of his first language…..
so saddening…
@A, His writing skills were not low.
on a different note, your sentence is corrected:
Mark it’s really sad to see you to share someone’s blog post whose writing skills are so low!
@jean..Further correction.
Mark, It’s really sad to see you share someone’s blog post whose writing skills are so low!
🙂
@cajie..ye
There’s something I don’t understand: if he was on the deportation list and was going to be deported soon, how did it not happen in 1 month?
Kuwait keeps you a good month before sending you bye bye
takes time to process people for deportation…
Wow, people outraging over the kids writing. Does’t anyone else seem bothered that the guy claims to have been in detention over a month and got beaten up for driving without a license?
A bit of an overkill?
Deportation for driving without a license…
Can Kuwait get any more retarded? Accepting foreigners because the country needs workers and then deporting their children for the dumbest offenses.
I’m positive they could have scared the kid straight without detaining him for so long and without the need for deportation.
Ridiculous, and all of you who propagate this type of behavior by your silence deserve no respect.
Mark, it would have been nice to see you mention how ridiculous all of this is, but we understand that you have to watch yourself very carefully. After all, we know the motto in Kuwait is “if you don’t like what we do, you’re a hater.”
Firstly, one of the most terrible pieces of writing on the internet. It just shows the poor use of the English language.
Secondly, even though I sympathize with “Nick” here, I must say one thing. The law is the law. You break it, you pay. It doesn’t discriminate and its the rule. If he happened to get into an accident (a severe epidemic here in Kuwait) his car insurance would have been voided. It’s apes like these that destroy other peoples lives.
Jail is bad, but there is a simple way of avoiding it. Just don’t break the law and you’re golden!
How about we discuss if the law should even exist? How about the punishment for breaking the law, is it too severe?
Just saying “law is law” is such a lazy thought process, very Kuwaiti.