British teacher stuck in Kuwait jail despite being cleared of drugs charges
Her family are very worried about her mental state.
A British primary school teacher is stuck in a Kuwait prison after being wrongfully convicted of drug offences.
Sara Assayed has been cleared and had her 10 year sentence quashed but remains behind bars in a Middle East jail.
Ms Assayed was arrested while working as a teacher in Kuwait, where she has lived since she was 17.
Police officers alleged drugs were found in her car when she was stopped on her way home from a community event and she was convicted in a 30 minute trial her family have described as a ‘sham’.
Her family say the 35-year-old is suicidal and have called on UK diplomats to intervene urgently.
Her sister Sheree said: ‘She told me if she doesn’t get out she’s going to commit suicide, her mental health is in a state.’
Sara, who is originally from Barry, was held in custody for four months before being released on bail ahead of her trial but had to submit her passport to the Kuwaiti authorities.
Sheree said she contacted the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), which liaised with the British Embassy, but she is frustrated with progress so far.
She claimed they’ve had ‘no support’ from the embassy and have been unable to secure a meeting with the ambassador.
Sheree said: ‘The FCDO know her situation and they keep referring us to the British Embassy in Kuwait, the British Embassy in Kuwait keep referring us to the FCDO in London.’
After several delays due to Covid-19, Sara was found guilty after a trial and spent three months in a cell before securing an appeal.
Her family claim she was not allowed to call witnesses or speak herself during the trial.
Sara’s conviction was overturned in February after it took a lawyer ‘one hour…to provide enough evidence that my sister was framed and there were no drugs involved’.
Under Kuwaiti law, she was told she must leave the country where she had spent half of her life, regardless of her successful appeal.
But the process has stalled and is mired in bureaucratic complications which are compounded by Covid-19 restrictions.
Sheree told Wales Online: ‘It has been horrific. My mum has been so ill. It has been frustrating because the communication with FCDO has been so limited.
‘It’s frustrating that my father, who has diabetes, booked a ticket and travelled all the way out there and was still not allowed into the embassy.
‘My sister, while she was on bail, walked to the embassy on foot and they wouldn’t let her in or support her.
‘I feel the UK government, and the system, have failed us.’
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: ‘We are assisting a British national who is detained in Kuwait and are in touch with their family and the local authorities.’
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