Friday, November 02, 2012

Criticizing the Emir(s): friends of the West can't be insulted

Basim sent me this:  "Kuwait Secret Service officers on Monday arrested prominent opposition leader and former MP Mussallam Al Barrak for publicly criticising the Gulf state Ruler, a rights official said. Humaidi, a lawyer, said Barrak was arrested on accusations that he made public remarks deemed offensive to the Amir of Kuwait, His Highness Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah.

Human rights groups on Tuesday criticised Qatar for detaining a poet for "insulting" the emir, with Amnesty International saying he faces a secret trial possibly as a prisoner of conscience. Mohammed al-Ajami -- also known as Mohammed Ibn al-Dheeb -- was arrested on November 16, 2011 in Doha and later reportedly charged with "inciting to overthrow the ruling system" and "insulting the emir," said Amnesty. "The prosecution's case against him is reportedly based on a poem he wrote in 2010 criticising Qatar's emir, but Gulf activists have alleged the real reason for his arrest was his "Jasmine Poem", written during the Arab Spring, said Amnesty.

Bahrain says a civil court has sentenced an online activist to six months in prison on charges of insulting the Gulf nation's king in Twitter posts."