Kuwait slaps Filipina with 10-year term for Daesh links

By Mohamed Abdel-Ghaffar

KUWAIT CITY (AA) - A Kuwaiti criminal court on Monday slapped a woman from the Philippines with a 10-year jail term after she was convicted of belonging to the Daesh terrorist group, according to a local judicial source.

The court also called for her expulsion from Kuwait upon the completion of her sentence, the same source said, insisting on anonymity as he was unauthorized to speak to the media.

Monday’s court ruling, however, still remains subject to appeal.

The woman, identified as Livani Azvillo, 32, was initially detained in August on suspicions of belonging to the terrorist group and planning terrorists attack in the small Gulf country.

At the time, Kuwait’s Interior Ministry had said Azvillo had entered the country two months earlier to work as a house maid.

Security forces monitoring the woman's email account, however, reportedly found messages sent by Azvillo to Daesh’s affiliate in Libya in which she pledged her allegiance to the terrorist group, according to the Interior Ministry.

Kuwait is a member of a U.S.-led military coalition which since 2014 has pounded Daesh positions in Iraq and Syria.