KUWAIT REVOKES CITIZENSHIP OF ISLAMIC PREACHER, TARIQ AL-SUWAIDAN

Mon 08 December 2025:

Kuwait has revoked the citizenship of 24 individuals, including the prominent Islamic preacher Tariq al-Suwaidan, according to a decree published in the Kuwait Today official gazette.

Decree No. 227 of 2025 states that citizenship has been withdrawn from “Tariq Muhammad Saleh al-Suwaidan, and those who acquired it through him by dependency.” The order was signed by Kuwait’s Emir, Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, following a recommendation from the Minister of Interior and the approval of the Council of Ministers.

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The decree did not specify the legal grounds for revoking al-Suwaidan’s citizenship. Kuwait typically withdraws nationality in cases involving dual citizenship, fraud, forgery, acquisition through “distinguished service,” or matters linked to national security or the “supreme interests of the state.”

Since the establishment of the Higher Committee for Kuwaiti Citizenship Investigations, more than 60,000 individuals have had their citizenship revoked for a range of reasons.

Al-Suwaidan, born in 1953, is widely regarded as a media figure associated with the Muslim Brotherhood rather than a traditional religious scholar. Trained in petroleum engineering, he holds a doctorate from the United States. He has faced repeated accusations of criticising neighbouring Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Last year, Kuwait’s Public Prosecution charged him with insulting a Gulf country and another Arab state on social media. He was released on bail and later acquitted by the Criminal Court on 30 July 2024, though prosecutors appealed the ruling.

-MEMO

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