On February the 5th, three former parliament members were convicted of "offending the emir". The courts found the defendants guilty based on speeches they had made in October and they have since sentenced all three to three years in prison each. The defendants have all appealed their sentences, however there is serious concern that there will be no change in their sentences. At least 25 people have been charged and six have been sentenced with "offending the emir". Even though this is a violation of the freedom of speech given to Kuwaitis in their constitution, there is an article under the Penal Code of 1970 which allows a maximum of five years in prison for those who publicly "object to the rights and authorities of the emir or faults him". The reasoning behind taking these men into custody was because their speeches, given in October of 2012, "pitched [the emir] to the rank of an average person". However the court did not specify the parts of the speeches which violated the law. It is very concerning that in Kuwait, often seen as a beacon of freedom in the Middle East, the constitution and freedoms of the people can be thrown aside in order to keep the image of the emir high.
[News taken from Human Rights Watch- Kuwait: Quash Convictions for "Offending the Emir"]
Update: As of Sunday, the jail sentence for these 3 former MP's has been suspended.
ReplyDeleteHow interesting! I wonder how the Kuwaitis feel about this and if it makes them feel self-conscious about what they do or say in public. I also wonder how high the approval rating of the Emir is.
ReplyDeleteIn October of last year a similar incident occurred in Kuwait with Musallam Al-Barrak. The Emir Sabah Al-Sabah and his forces arrested him for 'undermining the emir' at a political rally saying that his government was an autocracy. He was a parliamentary member as well and a leader of the opposition party. His trail is set for tomorrow so we will see what his sentence will be. Based the sentence of the other three parliamentary members, the outcome looks grim.
ReplyDeleteWhat bothers me the most about this post is this line: "However the court did not specify the parts of the speeches which violated the law." Clear and transparent law is the only legitimate law. Everyone else will cause contempt, dissatisfaction and unrest. It will be interesting to see how the citizens of Kuwait will react to these sentences.