CAIRO: The Egyptian-based Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) said today that Sunday was a “gloomy day” for freedom of opinion and expression in Kuwait. The pan-Arab rights group reported that two court sentences were issued against a member of Parliament, a journalist and two newspapers were each fined KD 3,000 ($105,000) on the background of critical articles published concerning the country's prime minister, which the government considered “abusive.” Prime Minister Shaikh Nasser al-Mohammed al-Ahmed al-Sabah is a member of the royal family. The first court sentence was against the writer and MP Mohamed Hayef al-Metairy “due [to] declarations published in al-Rouia newspaper, in which he criticized the Kuwaiti PM.” According to ANHRI, the Kuwaiti government considered those declarations “abusive of the royal family and the court fined the writer and the newspaper KD 3,000 each.” The second sentence was against the renowned opposition journalist Mohamed Abd AlKader Jasim due to an article published in al-Alam al-Youm newspaper, which was also critical of the PM. “Insisting on his position, Jasim refused to be bailed out and chose to stay in custody pending investigation for ten days. Eventually he and the newspaper were penalized KD 3,000 each,” a press statement from ANHRI said. Gamal Eid, ANHRI executive director said in the press statement that “the Kuwaiti government proved to be no exception of all Arab governments hostile to freedom of press and expression.” He added that “these penalties have completely ruined the good image which the Kuwaiti government worked hard to establish as a state that respects press freedom. We deeply hope that the Kuwaiti judiciary ,in appeal hearings, will affirm that government officials in any post are subject to criticism even if they were members of the royal family.” BM
