Activist’s jail term upheld as tweeters freed
Domestics’ law studied
KUWAIT: The public prosecutor yesterday freed two online activists on bail after questioning them along with others over accusations of insulting Saudi King Abdullah, who died less than two weeks ago. The prosecutor freed Mohammad Khaled Al-Ajmi on a KD 1,000 bail pending trial after detaining him for five days for allegedly writing comments on his Twitter account deemed offensive to King Abdullah and endangering diplomatic ties between Kuwait and the kingdom.
The prosecutor also freed Flaih Al-Azemi, a journalist with an Arabic daily, after several days of detention after facing similar accusations. No date has been yet set for their trial. The decisions come one day after a judge ordered the detention of two other tweeters for 10 days pending investigation over similar charges. Arrest warrants have also been issued against a number of other activists for making similar charges.
The court of appeals meanwhile upheld a four-year jail term against online activist Ahmad Abdulaziz Fadhel for allegedly insulting the judiciary and making derogatory remarks against a number of judges on Twitter. The criminal court handed the same sentence in October on Fadhel, who has been in jail for the past six months.
In another development, the National Assembly’s health and labour committee yesterday discussed a part of the first draft law to regulate the affairs of domestic helpers in Kuwait. Head of the committee MP Saadoun Hammad said the panel completed 47 articles of the 73article bill and will meet again on Thursday to complete the rest of articles. Among articles approved by the panel is an article stipulating that domestic helpers can transfer their residence permits after working for two years with their first sponsor, Hammad said. Sponsors who make the transfer before the two years will lose their financial guarantee.
MP Abdulhameed Dashti called on the Assembly to debate human rights situation in Kuwait in a special session or at least allocate two hours for the debate. He said the Assembly should debate recommendations made to Kuwait by a large number of countries last week at the United Nations Human Rights Council, which heard Kuwait’s report on its human rights situation. Dashti said that Kuwait must be ready to respond to these recommendations at a meeting to be held by the Council on June 29.
MP Abdulrahman Al-Jeeran said he has submitted a proposal to amend the election law to prevent those who receive jail terms for serious felonies from contesting the election before the lapse of 15 years if they repeat the crime. Under the current law, people who have been sentenced for crimes can contest elections after they are rehabilitated. The same applies to recidivists.