Abu Dhabi: Kuwait on Tuesday launched a new electronic tag system for convicts on bail or probation, local media reported.
Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior for Correctional Institutions Affairs and Sentence Implementation, Major General Talal Marafie, launched a new operations room designed to monitor inmates fitted with the tags.
Major General Marafie said under the system, people sentenced to up to three years can be released from prison and stay at home while wearing the tags.
Inmates serving longer terms can benefit from the tagging system in the last three years of their sentence, he said.
The inmate house arrest and tracking system applies only to Kuwaitis and stateless people [Bidoon], not expatriates.
Major General Marafie said convicts must be fully committed to being within the scope of their residence. They are not allowed to leave the area, nor are they entitled to move to any other place.
“The convicts’ personal phones must be on around the clock, and in the event of illness, they call the operations room and take the necessary approval to go to the correctional institutions hospital, where their itinerary to and from their residence is followed up,” he explained.
He said the new measure covers traffic and some criminal offences.
Major General Marafie indicated that the convicts should not install any jamming device within their residence, tamper with the tag, or attempt to remove or damage it. Should they do so, they will be returned to their prison to serve their term.
