DUBAI: While many eyes in the region were focused on the ongoing political crisis in Egypt or elections in Kuwait, Qatari poet Mohamed Ibn al-Deeb al-Ajami on Saturday announced he would take his life sentence to an appeals court in the hopes to see the case reversed. The 36-year-old poet, a popular figure among Gulf rights activists and an outspoken critic of the Qatari government, had been sentenced to life in jail on Thursday after a court found him guilty of trying to “destabilize the country.” His laywer Najeeb al-Naimi was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying his client would appeal the verdict. Ajami, who has been largely held in solitary confinement, spoke to the Reuters news agency in the presence of prison guards and others. “The Emir is a good man,” he told the agency. “I think he doesn't know that they have me here for a year, that they have put me in a single room. “If he knew, I would be freed,” he said. “This is wrong,” al-Ajami said. “You can't have Al Jazeera in this country and put me in jail for being a poet.” Naimi said he would appeal next week against the verdict, which was handed down after six hearings. The poet was arrested in November 2011. The case has left activists across the region frustrated with the proceedings of what international human rights organizations have described as a “secret trial.” London-based Amnesty International lashed out at the trial, saying a number of irregularities in Ajami's trial had been seen. The poet had even been barred from attending one of his own sessions and was only allowed to give written defense, the rights group said. Lebanon's al-Akhbar newspaper reported that the poet's sentence and ruling “stands in stark contrast to Qatari ruler Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani public advocacy for freedom of expression. He set up the Doha Centre for Media Freedom in to promote press freedom in 2008.” Despite the promise, freedom of speech and media remain fairly tight-lipped and under watch by the ruling leaders. “Inciting to overthrow the regime” is a charge punishable by death in Qatar, while “insulting the emir” carries a five-year prison sentence, the watchdog said. Human Rights Watch denounced th incarceration as “further evidence of Qatar's double standard on freedom of expression.”
