Policy

Kuwaiti Court Gives Woman an 11 Year Jail Sentence for Tweets

Free speech not doing so well

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A Kuwaiti court has sentenced a woman to 11 years in jail for insulting the emir and calling for regime change on social networking site Twitter.

Huda al-Ajmi, a 37-year-old teacher, has been also convicted of misusing her mobile phone.

She can appeal against the sentence.

Kuwait has punished several Twitter users in recent months for insulting its ruler, Sheikh Sabah al-Sabah, who is described as "immune and inviolable" in the constitution.

In May, an appeals court overturned a five-year sentence for prominent opposition figure Mussallam al-Barrak who was convicted of "undermining" the ruling emir, says his defence lawyer.