Kuwaiti jailed 4 yrs over Saudi tweets

KUWAIT: The lower court yesterday sentenced an activist to four years in jail for posting comments on Twitter deemed offensive to Saudi Arabia. The court convicted Hamed Buyabes, a Kuwaiti, of “insulting a brotherly country and endangering diplomatic ties with it” a year ago, the verdict said. The former columnist confirmed the sentence on Twitter, saying he had only been defending the interests of his country during a row with Riyadh over a border port. The sentence is not final as it can be challenged before the appeals and supreme courts.