Family claims US lesbian couple were jailed for 25 years in Kuwait ‘for being gay’
The family of a US soldier has said that she and her girlfriend were jailed for 25 years on “false” charges because of their sexuality.
Monique Coverson served in the US military for seven years, before moving to Kuwait along with her partner Larissa.
However, the pair were arrested on drugs charges and now face up to 25 years in jail. The charges, according to Coverson’s family, are entirely false.
The soldier’s mother Michelle Jackson, claims the charges were fabricated because the pair are lovers.
A Change.org petition urges the US Government to “do whatever it can” to get the pair of of jail, and back to the US.
Jackson writes in the petition: “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.
