Kuwait media restrictions slammed

Advocate group Reporters without Borders on Thursday slammed Kuwait for withdrawing the licences of two weekly newspapers, in the latest restriction of press freedom in the Gulf Arab state.

A Kuwait City court on March 8 stripped Al-Abraj and Al-Shaab of their licences and fined their editors 9,000 Kuwaiti dinars ($33,179) each in separate cases, according to Reporters without Borders.

Al-Abraj editor Mansur Ahmad Muhareb Al-Hayni was convicted of damaging the Kuwait prime minister’s reputation, while Al-Shaab editor Hamed Turki Abu Yabes was convicted of publishing political articles in a newspaper whose licence is limited to covering arts and culture, the group said.

“The relative freedom enjoyed by the Kuwaiti press must not be undermined,” Reporters without Borders said in a statement.

"The withdrawal of these two weeklies’ licences can only aggravate the situation. We urge the authorities to reaffirm their commitment to freedom of expression and to find a way to allow these two newspapers to continue publishing.”

Both cases involve the publishing of articles about corruption in the Gulf state. Reporters without Borders said both editors have criticised the rulings.

Transparency International ranked Kuwait 60th out of 180 countries worldwide in last year’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). The anti-corruption organisation gave Kuwait a score of 4.3 out of 10, with 10 being highly clean and zero being highly corrupt.

Since the beginning of this year in Kuwait, a popular website has been blocked, a woman journalist has been threatened and two employees of the daily Al-Watan have been the targets of lawsuits, Reporters without Borders said.