KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait’s appeals court toughened the jail term yesterday of an opposition tweeter to five years for calling for a coup and insulting the emir of the Gulf state.
Bader Al-Rasheedi was jailed on Nov. 28 after the lower court gave him a two-year term, but the appeals court decided to increase this to five years, director of the Kuwait Society for Human Rights Mohammad Al-Humaidi told AFP.
Rasheedi was charged with spreading false news about the emirate abroad and writing tweets deemed offensive to the ruler of the OPEC member state, Humaidi said.
The tweeter has the right to appeal the sentence in the supreme court, where rulings are final.
In another ruling, the appeals court overturned a two-year jail term against stateless activist Abdulhakeem Al-Fadhli and acquitted him from charges of organizing protests and instigating stateless people to demonstrate.
Fadhli turned himself in two months ago to serve the jail sentence issued against him late last year in absentia.
Kuwait has already sentenced to various prison terms around 10 tweeters and former MPs for insulting the emir, while dozens are still on trial on similar charges.
The lower court two weeks ago sentenced opposition activist Sager Al-Hashash to two years with immediate effect and handed Nasser Al-Deehani a 20-month suspended term after they were charged with insulting the emir.
Kuwaiti court toughens tweeter’s jail term
