A Kuwaiti national has been sentenced to seven years in jail for publishing comments on the internet that were deemed as defamatory of the Gulf state.
Mohammed Al-Mulaifi was found guilty of undermining the Shi’ite doctrine and insulting Shi’ite scholars at Kuwait’s criminal court yesterday after writing about racial and sectarian division within the Kuwaiti community on the website Twitter.
Al-Mulaifi was also said to have accused some citizens of holding affiliations with foreign countries.
He was sentenced to seven years of imprisonment with hard labour, a KWD50 (US$180) fine and made to pay compensation of KWD5,001.
Kuwait, along with the other Gulf states, has in recent months instigated a crackdown on social media communications that are critical of regional governments, as well as those deemed blasphemous.
Authorities in the UAE said last week they would implement round-the-clock monitoring of social media websites, in a bid to crackdown on abuse and defamation.
Websites such as Twitter and Facebook will be checked by anti-electronic crime teams in Dubai and other emirates, officials said.
Earlier this year, Saudi authorities issued an arrest warrant for 23-year old journalist Hamza Kashgari after he posted messages on the site Twitter that were deemed as blasphemous.
After travelling to Malaysia, Kashgari was extradited back to Saudi where he could now face the death penalty.
Similarly, Emirati citizen Saleh al-Dhufairi was arrested in the UAE last month after publishing comments on Twitter that criticised the Gulf state’s security forces.
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