Kuwait sentences Shia MP to 25 years in jail for insulting monarchy, Saudi

  Saturday, 24 September 2016

source: abna

(AhlulBayt News Agency) - A Kuwaiti court on Thursday sentenced prominent Shiite lawmaker Abdulhameed Dashti to 11 years’ jail in absentia for insults against Amir and its neighbour Saudi Arabia.
Any criticism of the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah can result in charges of insulting him, and dozens of opposition activists have been jailed for the offence in the past few years.
The verdict against Dashti, announced in a court statement, comes two months after he was sentenced to 14 years and six months for a similar offence.
Dashti has been living abroad for several months, after leaving Kuwait in March to seek medical treatment in Britain. In the latest ruling, the criminal court in Kuwait City deemed as offensive his remarks about the Amir and neighbouring Saudi Arabia.
The outspoken lawmaker was also allegedly convicted in July of endangering ties with Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Dashti confirmed the latest court ruling on Twitter, saying he expects more sentences that could amount to 100 years’ jail as he is facing about a dozen similar cases.
The verdicts are not final but Dashti can only challenge once he returns to Kuwait. He has not said when he will go back. Dashti is a critic of the royal families of both Saudi Wahhabi regime and Bahrain.
He denounced as an “invasion” the 2011 Saudi military intervention in Bahrain to support the government against protests. The next ruling against him is scheduled for Oct 10. There are nine Shiite lawmakers in the 50-seat parliament of Kuwait, and the minority comprises about 30 percent of the country’s native population of 1.3 million.