The family of Monique Coverson – an American citizen and Army veteran – have claimed that she and her girlfriend have been jailed for 25 years on “false” charges because of their sexuality.
Coverson – who served in the US military for seven years before moving to Kuwait along with her partner Larissa – was arrested on drugs charges with her girlfriend for possession of a material her lawyer claims is perfectly legal in Kuwait.
However, Monique’s mother Michelle Jackson claims the charges were fabricated because the pair are lovers.
The family have set up a Facebook page and gathered more than 4,000 signatures on a petition demanding her release.
After active duty, Monique and her partner Larissa later returned to Kuwait to work as military contractors. On the the morning of May 8, 2015, their house was raided and police confiscated one ounce of a ‘tobacco-like’ substance. It was sent to a lab in Germany for analysis, and it was determined to be a substance that is completely legal in Kuwait. Yet, Kuwaiti officials held them in prison anyway.
After 8 months of uncharged incarceration, the one ounce of legal substance magically turned into one pound of marijuana, and on January 12, 2016, Monique and Larissa were sentenced to 20-25 years in prison.
I am begging the US Government to do what it can to get my daughter and her partner out of jail and back to the States. They have clearly been targeted by the Kuwaiti government for their lifestyle, and could spend half their lives in prison for it.”
Monique’s sister added:
They live an alternative lifestyle, and while it’s accepted here in the United States, not so much in other counties around the world.”
The substance, which the family only identified as “tobacco like” in the petition, is in fact believed to be a form of synthetic marijuana (K2), which WDIV reports is legal in Kuwait.
The drug’s ingredients classify it as a controlled substance in the US and most countries.
