Kuwait: Amnesty Urges Release of Kuwaiti Journalist

Amnesty International issued a statement calling on Kuwaiti authorities to release Muhammad ‘Abd al-Qader al-Jasem, the Kuwaiti lawyer and journalist who was sentenced to one year in prison last week for a writing a blog post criticizing Prime Minister Shaikh Nasser al-Mohammad al-Sabah. Amnesty’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa Philip Luther said “Amnesty International believes that Muhammad ‘Abd al-Qader al-Jasem has been convicted and sentenced solely for non-violently exercising his right to freedom of expression and is therefore a prisoner of conscience. […] The authorities should release him immediately and unconditionally and, more broadly, cease their apparent attempts to stop him from airing his views on the government and Kuwait’s ruling family.” Al-Jasem was formally the editor-in-chief of Al-Watan Daily, a Kuwaiti newspaper, and editor-in-chief of Newsweek’s and Foreign Policy’s Arabic editions.