Bring Tony Home From Unjust Imprisonment in Kuwait
Tony Holden is a 59-year-old US citizen, member of the prestigious Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, and father to six children and six grandchildren. From 2016, he had been working for a US-based defense contractor, Vectrus, supporting Camp Arifjan U.S. Army Base in Kuwait. On November 9, 2022, Tony was arrested and set up by corrupt Kuwaiti police looking to earn bonuses.
The officers reported such an obvious fabrication that a Kuwaiti judge immediately found it to be falsified.
Incredibly, over two years later, Tony is still in prison.
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Tony Holden Has Been Imprisoned For
Who is Tony Holden?
Tony Holden is a 59-year-old US citizen and father to six children and six grandchildren. Tony grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, later moved to Atlanta, Georgia, and went on to live for 15 years in the Middle East. He was most recently working for a US-based defense contractor, Vectrus, supporting Camp Arifjan U.S. Army Base in Kuwait. A University of Memphis alumnae and member of the prestigious Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, Tony is known for his exceptional kindness and passion for supporting and mentoring others to succeed. A man of deep faith, Tony does not drink nor do drugs.
“I have known Tony Holden since childhood. We grew up across the street from each other and went to school together from the age of five until he graduated high school two years before me. We have maintained a close relationship throughout our adult lives. He has always been supportive of me as a student, neighbor, friend, and religious leader. To my knowledge, Tony has never used drugs of any kind. Tony has always been a man of great character and a positive influence in the community.”
Pastor Travis Moody, Childhood Friend
What Happened?
On November 9, 2022, two men approached Tony Holden and violently detained him. They were in plain clothes and became so violent so quickly that Tony thought he was being kidnapped. The men beat Tony and made him bring them to his home on base. They proceeded to kick down the door, trash the entire apartment, and demanded to know where “the drugs” were. When they couldn’t find any drugs because Tony is a law-abiding, heavily background-checked defense contractor who also just happens to abstain from all drugs and alcohol for religious reasons, they beat him again.
Seeing a photo of his wife and daughter, the men forced Tony to reveal his family lived in a second off-base apartment and led them there. When there weren’t any drugs at the second apartment either, they beat Tony again, this time in front of his wife and three-year-old daughter.
Not receiving the results they wanted, they forced Tony, his wife, and his daughter back into cars and drove them out into the Kuwaiti desert in the dead of night. The officers continued to beat Tony and started physically threatening his wife and three-year-old daughter. Tony and his family thought they were going to die that night, and nobody would ever know. Eventually, Tony was coerced into signing a written confession in Arabic to protect his family. After his signed confession, they conducted a drug test, which, unsurprisingly, was negative. Tony then disappeared for two weeks before being charged with drug possession, drug trafficking, and attempting to flee the country in court. He was not granted any legal representation.
A Kuwaiti lawyer contacted Tony’s family, claiming she could “save” Tony for $75,000. Fearing for his life, Tony and his family scrounged up the money. Nothing happened, and the entire scheme was later revealed. The lawyer was also representing an actual drug dealer with an open-and-shut case, but she bribed officials to have Tony charged with the drug dealer’s crimes. The arresting officers knew nothing about Tony because they just needed a scapegoat, any scapegoat, to take the fall because as the arresting officers, they were entitled to generous bonuses. The judge in Tony’s trial even noted that the police report was obviously fabricated because none of the officers spoke English and had falsified dialogue between themselves and Tony in English. The officers were punished, but Tony was still convicted.
When Tony appealed in April 2023 (a predicate necessary to eventually request a pardon), he was assigned a judge known for being harsh on drug cases. To make a statement about how the Kuwaiti government would handle drug use in the country, the judge not only did not find in favor of the appeal but then increased Tony’s sentence to 15 years. Two years after his original arrest, an American citizen who had never used drugs or alcohol and who was arrested on fraudulent information remains in Kuwaiti prison despite pleas to be deported or pardoned. Tony Holden was an innocent man when he was arrested, and he remains an innocent man today.
“When we talk on the phone, our conversations have often been introspective and about our life purpose and faith in God. He's demonstrated a rare discipline as a practicing Muslim and in social settings. He’s never been seen drinking wine or partaking of any other mind-altering substances. He even would sometimes get teased about it by family and friends. He’s never been judgmental regarding his choices and only attributes it to a pledge or commitment he made to God for saving his life after he experienced a near-death incident. He’s worked overseas for nearly two decades and felt at home in the region and would have never jeopardized his welcome.”
Venus Jones, Friend Of Twenty Years
Why Should Kuwait Act NOW To Free Tony Holden?
He is innocent. Tony has never used drugs or alcohol in his life. He is a practicing Muslim and has never had a criminal record. Kuwaiti Police tested him and his residence and found no evidence of drugs. A Kuwaiti judge found the Kuwaiti Police who arrested Tony engaged in improper behavior, and they were subsequently sanctioned for it.
Tony was set up without evidence. Finding no evidence of drugs in their search of his car and home, Kuwaiti Police dragged Tony, his wife, and young daughter into the Kuwait desert at night and threatened their lives to force Tony to sign a confession that he could not read. Tony’s first lawyer and a known drug dealer pointed Kuwaiti police toward Tony as a means of removing his own sentence.
There is a scam afoot in Kuwait. Kuwaiti officials have been aware for several years that there was a scam involved in the targeting of American defense contractors for alleged drug offenses, with Kuwaiti Police earning bonuses on their arrests and corrupt lawyers bilking American families for legal fees.
Reform is an Emiri priority. Kuwait’s Emir has been working to reform the courts and prison system. Numerous foreigners convicted of crimes have been deported from Kuwait to lessen pressure on Kuwait’s prison system.
Allies don’t treat allies this way. Kuwait and the US have a shared history of fighting for freedom. 154 Americans died in combat in the 1990-1991 effort to liberate Kuwait from the Iraqi invasion. Another 65 Americans died in non-combat circumstances. Kuwait is considered a major non-NATO ally of the United States.
Kuwait is dependent on a US military presence, and US military personnel in Kuwait are dependent on defense contractors. Defense contractor personnel are not required to serve in Kuwait. If they know Kuwaiti officials are targeting them for money, they will choose to serve in another location. Approximately 13,500 American military personnel are currently located on at least seven military bases in Kuwait, including: Camp Arfjan; Ahmad al-Jaber Air Base; Ali al Salem Air Base; Camp Buehring (formerly Camp Udairi); Mohammed Al-Ahmad Kuwait Naval Base; Camp Patriot; and Camp Spearhead.
Kuwait is dependent on US military support. Since 2016, the US has approved $416M in direct commercial sales of US military equipment, including: military electronics, fire control/night vision, and aircraft. The US has also provided billions of dollars of Foreign Military Sales support to Kuwait, including: $3B sale of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS); $1.8B in follow-on technical support for other military purchases; $445M sale of heavy tactical vehicles; construction at the Kuwaiti Ministry of Defense; upgrades to Kuwait’s Patriot missile systems; Apache AH-64 helicopters; land and air force munitions; and training to Kuwaiti security officials through the MANPADS Task Force.
And It’s Not Just Tony: A Pattern Of Exploitation
From approximately 2016 to 2022, a significant number of African American defense contractors were targeted with illegal searches, placement of evidence, and exorbitant legal fees required upfront without results. This trend appears to have waned, and the Kuwaiti government has worked hard to address civil rights violations in the system, release foreign prisoners, and address these issues for other foreigners. However, many of these individuals remain in Kuwait’s prisons.
Arrested, Tortured, Imprisoned:
The U.S. Contractors Abandoned in Kuwait
“Dozens of military contractors, most of them Black, have been jailed in the emirate — some on trumped-up drug charges. Why has the American government failed to help them?
All of these Americans share uncannily similar stories. They were private contractors, supporting American
military operations in the Middle East, before being arrested in what were often kick-in-the-door nighttime raids by Kuwaiti police. Some say they were tortured into making false confessions — claims sometimes supported by the State Department’s own records. Most of the contractors say that Kuwaiti police trumped up minor personal drug use into serious trafficking charges, often building off the coerced confessions. All say that they were convicted without due process under Kuwaiti law — assertions that Kuwait’s own police files sometimes support. And they universally complain that the Trump administration has been of little help to them during their ordeals — despite the State Department’s being aware of Kuwaitis torturing Americans.
…the United States has some basic responsibilities to the welfare of all its citizens imprisoned overseas. And frequently, especially under this administration, it goes above and beyond those obligations. Acosta and the others believe there is a simple reason that their predicament has been overlooked: race. All but three of these contractors are Black; not one of them is white.”
Doug Bock Clark 10/28/20
Where Do Things Stand Now?
Tony is imprisoned in the Central Prison in Kuwait. He has over 13 years left in his sentence. He only recently received real bedding to sleep on. He sees his wife only every two weeks. The police threats against Tony’s wife and daughter have meant his daughter needs to be in the US - away from her father and mother. His three-year-old daughter is dealing with trauma whenever she sees a uniformed officer. Tony remains in prison even when 1) no drugs have ever been found on him, 2) drug tests on him were negative, 3) the drug trafficker with whom he was allegedly supporting was arrested, and no links to Tony were found, and 4) Kuwait’s own civil courts say he should not be there.
What You Can Do For Tony
Thank you for taking the time to learn Tony’s story. It’s an appallingly blatant miscarriage of justice by a country who is supposed to be one of our closest allies. That’s unacceptable.
Please email the Kuwaiti Embassy and let them know you know Tony’s story, and you demand his immediate release. Feel free to write to them in your own words, or use our sample language below:
Dear Ambassador Al-Zain Al-Sabah,
I’m writing to you about the appalling treatment and imprisonment of American citizen Tony Holden in your country of Kuwait. Tony was in Kuwait as a defense contractor working towards our nations’ joint defense objectives. In the spirit of our country’s deep friendship, I hope Kuwait does the right thing and releases Tony to his family in the United States as soon as possible.
Tony was arrested on drug charges on November 9, 2022. The charges are absurd on four counts:
1) Tony had to pass extensive and comprehensive drug tests and background checks to be employed as a U.S. Defense Contractor on a military base overseas.
2) The Kuwaiti police’s own drug test confirmed Tony was clean.
3) The Kuwaiti Judge who first heard Tony’s case exposed the police who arrested him as liars in court. The Judge found that the police report was fraudulent because it contained detailed transcripts of English language conversations with Tony despite the fact that none of the police officers involved in the arrest spoke English. Furthermore, the officers didn’t know Tony’s address, that he had family in the country, or that he had a second residence during his arrest despite this being publically available information that was registered with the government, indicating that Tony was randomly targeted.
4) Tony is a devout Muslim who has refrained from drugs and alcohol his entire life.
As a friend and supporter of the Holden family, I will spend the coming weeks and months amplifying Tony’s story to my professional and personal networks, both online and offline. I will be writing to my newly elected officials to demand that they end all cooperation with the Kuwaiti government until Tony is brought home. But it doesn’t have to be this way:
Do the right thing: Free Tony Holden.