Poet arrested for ‘insulting’ emir in Kuwait

Poet and businessman Jamal Al-Sayer was arrested in Kuwait over tweets insulting Emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabathe, the poet’s family told Reuters.

Muhannad Al- Sayer, the poet’s nephew and lawyer, told Reuters his uncle was pulled over by three police cars and arrested Monday.

He is being charged with “insulting the emir, spreading fake news that could harm the state’s image and misusing his mobile phone,” according to the nephew.

The tweet that apparently prompted Sayer’s tweet was sent on June 28. 

“Your highness (the emir) and your highness the crown prince, the situation has become unbearable. You have allowed the government to disrupt and violate the constitution, defying the parliament and the people’s will,” Sayer tweeted.

Some MPs spoke out against the decision to arrest Sayer based on the tweet.

“We will not accept becoming a police state in which constitutional rights are violated… Following mafia and gangs’ style and hacking freedoms are crimes against democracy and the rule of law,” opposition lawmaker Abdul Aziz Al-Saqabi tweeted.

The emir has the final say in the decision, Reuters noted.

The country’s parliament has been trying to question royal family member Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khalid al-Sabah about corruption and other issues, but it has not happened, according to Reuters.