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."