Kuwait Jails Two for Emir Insult Tweets

A court in Kuwait on Thursday sentenced two opposition activists to prison terms on charges of writing remarks on their Twitter accounts that were deemed offensive to the emir, a defense lawyer said.

Sager al-Hashash was given two years in jail with immediate effect while Nasser al-Deehani was handed a 20-month term but was asked to pay 200 dinars ($700) to suspend it, lawyer Khaled al-Humoud wrote on his own Twitter account.

The two verdicts are not final as they can be challenged in the Gulf emirate's court of appeal and supreme courts, Humoud said.

The opposition slammed the verdict as politically motivated.

"It is clear that the series of political verdicts is still going on," prominent opposition leader and former MP Mussallam al-Barrak, himself on trial on similar charges, said on his Twitter account.

Kuwaiti courts have handed down several prison sentences to a number of opposition activists and former MPs for remarks deemed offensive and insulting to the emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah, over the past few months.

In February, the same court acquitted five activists on the same charges. But dozens of opposition activists and former MPs are on trial on similar charges and for taking part in "illegal" protests.

Last month, the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said that the rights situation in Kuwait deteriorated last year, with police using force to disperse protesters and launching crackdowns on online activists.

HRW also urged the authorities to drop all charges against online activists.

The information ministry denied the watchdog's accusations and called them unrealistic.

HRW said that based on unofficial records, at least 35 opposition activists and former MPs have either been convicted, are on trial or are under investigation on similar charges.

Rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders on Thursday expressed concern over a complaint filed by the Kuwaiti information ministry against two announcers with pro-opposition Al-Youm television for reading an opposition statement.

It said that Rima al-Baghdadi and Ahmad al-Enezi are on trial and face up to five years in prison on charges of "attacking the emir’s honor and authority and insulting the emirate’s tradition values."

The next hearing is on April 10.

Criticizing the emir is illegal in Kuwait and is considered to be a state security offense. Those convicted face up to five years in jail.

The Kuwaiti opposition has staged regular demonstrations in protest at an amendment last year of the electoral law and subsequent December elections.

Kuwait has seen many opposition-led demonstrations in protest against the changes to the law, which opposition groups claimed allowed the government to influence election results and elect a rubber-stamp assembly.