Kuwait: Protesters call for release of jailed journalist

11 Jun 10 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost

On 9 June, hundreds of Kuwaitis attend a rally to call for the release of opposition journalist and lawyer . Accused of harming the national interest and undermining the Kuwaiti ruler, al-Jassem has been held in detention for over a month. He was sentenced to six months in prison after he authored a number of articles and books critical of the local political situation.

Kuwait: Hunger strike journalist hospitalised

18 May 10 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, Uncategorized

A Kuwaiti journalist was hospitalised over the weekend after refusing medication and beginning a hunger strike in protest at his 11 May arrest.  Government critic, Mohammed Abdel Qader al-Jassem, claims he was arrested for political reasons. The national security ministry has been interrogating the journalist and reviewing every blog post he has written in the past five years. He was sentenced to six months in prison in April for slandering Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, though the decision was later suspended pending an appeal.

Kuwaiti media banned from reporting on Iran ‘spy ring’

17 May 10 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, Uncategorized

The Kuwaiti media have been banned from reporting on the dismantling of an Iranian spy network by prosecutor-general Hamed Saleh Al-Othman. The spy ring— which was publicly revealed on 1 May—  was gathering information about Kuwaiti and US military bases on behalf of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. Al-Othman told Al-Aan newspaper that he blocked further reporting of the case in order to allow the police and judicial authorities to investigate it without additional pressure. Reporters without Borders called the ban “a serious obstruction of investigative reporting.”

ElBaradei supporters deported from Kuwait

14 Apr 10 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, Uncategorized

At least 21 Egyptian expatriates have been arrested and deported from Kuwait for supporting Mohamed ElBaradei. The former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency champions political reform in Egypt and is being tipped as a potential presidential candidate. About 30 ElBaradei supporters were arrested in a café on Thursday for what the Kuwaiti interior minister, Sheikh Jaber al-Sabah, said was an illegally assembly. Kuwait police had previously arrested three other ElBaradei supporters. Egypt has claimed they had no hand in these arrests and deportations. AFP reports that more than 400,000 Egyptians live in Kuwait, the country prohibits non-Kuwaitis from participating in demonstrations.