Kuwaiti Tweeps Jailed for Religious Offenses

Posted: 06/07/2012 4:21 pm
Magda Abu-Fadil
Director of Media Unlimited in Lebanon

Watch what you tweet in Kuwait, lest you end up in jail, or worse.

Two Muslim Kuwaiti tweeps -- one Sunni, one Shiite -- were handed jail sentences for what the courts considered highly offensive language, since their tweets were sectarian in nature, adding fuel to already simmering tensions in the oil-rich Gulf state.

Hamad Al Naqi, a 26-year-old Shiite accused of posting anti-Sunni tweets, denied the charges saying his account had been hacked, but this week got a 10-year prison term nonetheless.

Al Naqi is accused of insulting the Prophet Mohammad, his wives and his companions, as well as endangering state security and slamming the Sunni rulers of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain -- all considered anathema.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/magda-abufadil/kuwaiti-tweeps-jailed-for_b_1574043.html