Kuwait jails 2nd tweeter for insulting emir

Kuwait's lower court on Monday handed a two-year jail term to an opposition tweeter for allegedly insulting the emir in the second such sentence in as many days, a human rights activist said. "Ayyad al-Harbi was sentenced to two years in jail," director of the Kuwait Society for Human Rights Mohammad al-Humaidi said on his Twitter account. According to the ruling, Harbi must start serving the sentence immediately, even before the outcomes of his challenges in the appeals and supreme courts are known, Humaidi said. On Sunday, the same court handed an identical sentence to Rashed al-Enezi, who faced similar charges. Enezi was arrested from the courtroom and sent to jail. In another decision, the court on Monday acquitted opposition activist Osama al-Munawer, a member of the scrapped 2012 parliament, on charges of abusing the emir's authority and undermining his status. Munawer was briefly arrested and interrogated after delivering a speech at a public rally on October 13. He was later charged with making remarks offensive to the emir. Enezi and Harbi, both in their 20s, are the first to be sentenced among dozens of tweeters, activists and ex-opposition lawmakers who have been charged with similar offences since the government began a clampdown ahead of elections held on December 1. Kuwait's lower court on Monday handed a two-year jail term to an opposition tweeter for allegedly insulting the emir in the second such sentence in as many days, a human rights activist said. "Ayyad al-Harbi was sentenced to two years in jail," director of the Kuwait Society for Human Rights Mohammad al-Humaidi said on his Twitter account. According to the ruling, Harbi must start serving the sentence immediately, even before the outcomes of his challenges in the appeals and supreme courts are known, Humaidi said. On Sunday, the same court handed an identical sentence to Rashed al-Enezi, who faced similar charges. Enezi was arrested from the courtroom and sent to jail. In another decision, the court on Monday acquitted opposition activist Osama al-Munawer, a member of the scrapped 2012 parliament, on charges of abusing the emir's authority and undermining his status. Munawer was briefly arrested and interrogated after delivering a speech at a public rally on October 13. He was later charged with making remarks offensive to the emir. Enezi and Harbi, both in their 20s, are the first to be sentenced among dozens of tweeters, activists and ex-opposition lawmakers who have been charged with similar offences since the government began a clampdown ahead of elections held on December 1.