Cairo: 19 February 2019

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) condemned Kuwait’s Criminal Court’s decision, issued on February 17, sentencing Twitter activist Saqr al-Hashash to three years in jail with hard labor over the case publicly known as “offending the Emir”.

On February 17, the Kuwaiti Criminal Court sentenced blogger and Twitter activist Saqr al-Hashash, in absentia, to three years in prison with hard labor, in addition to the confiscation of his cell phone, into “offending the Emir” case.

It is worth mentioning that the Criminal Court sentenced, on January 15, Saqr al-Hashash, in absentia, to five years in prisons for allegedly “publishing remarks that undermine the status of the Emir on his account in the social networking website Twitter”, against the backdrop of writing tweets declaring his political views. After the last ruling, the total prison sentences handed down in absentia al- Hashash- since he is abroad- have exceeded 80 years.

It should be noted that Article 25 of Law No. 31 of 1970- amending the Kuwaiti Penal Code- prohibits any criticism against the Emir, and gives the authorities the right to bring bloggers and Twitter activists to trial for publishing any critical tweets; as it provides for up to five years in prison for persons who publicly “objects to the rights and authorities of the emir or faults him”.

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) said: “Due to the huge number of sentences issued in absentia against Twitter activist Saqr al-Hashash, amounting 80 years in prison, we have become unaware of the exact number of sentences he has received so far. Citizens have also lost their trust and belief in the seriousness of these rulings, especially that they are against the backdrop of tweets that are critical to the government or state authorities”.

ANHRI calls for dropping the charge of “insulting the Emir” that is brought against Twitter activist Saqr al-Hashash, and amending the Penal Code in a way that would entrench freedom of expression as well as voicing opinion and criticism without any fear.

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