Kuwait .. The judiciary acquits former MP Nasser Al-Duwailah of insulting the UAE and fines him for Saudi Arabia's complaint

Al Jazeera Net - Kuwait

After a marathon run, he was cut by various levels of Kuwaiti courts, and he was imprisoned for 3 months.

The curtain has fallen on the two cases of insulting Saudi Arabia and the UAE, in which the former deputy and lawyer Nasser Al-Duwailah is accused of canceling the prison sentence.

The Court of Cassation (the last degree according to the Kuwaiti judicial system) issued its ruling to cancel the prison issued against Al-Duwailah and acquitted him from a complaint filed by the Emirati embassy, ​​while it decided to fine him 1,000 Kuwaiti dinars (about $ 3270) in the Saudi embassy’s complaint about the lawsuits that were brought against him due to His tweets on the social networking site "Twitter".

Al-Duwailah wrote a tweet on Twitter in which he said that the Court of Cassation had issued this ruling, commenting, "Praise be to God and we ask God to inspire our rationality and let our enemy down."

The discrimination ruling was issued today in the case of Shakira, the complainant of Saudi Arabia, and the case of the Kuwaiti aid convoy that was intercepted by the Southern Movement militia, about which the UAE complained.

She was taken innocence from the Emirates complaint and a fine of 1,000 dinars in Shakira's complaint.

Praise be to God, and we ask God to inspire us with wisdom and let our enemy down

- Nasser Al-Duwailah (@nasser_duwailah) October 26, 2020

Immediately after the verdict was issued, Al-Jazeera Net met with Al-Duwailah, where he expressed his "overwhelming happiness with the Kuwaiti judiciary’s victory for the right," he said.

In tribute to the Kuwaiti courts;

Al-Duwailah confirmed that the ruling confirms the integrity of the Kuwaiti judiciary, stressing that its effects will extend to all tweeters, after the court approved a principle in which the electronic publishing law was properly applied.

He added that he expected the issuance of the acquittal ruling and the application of the law after the appeal ruling was unfair, as he put it, and added, "There is no offense at all that calls for imprisonment in a case related to publishing."

Al-Duwailah stressed that only history is responsible for registering what people and what they owe, continuing, "The Public Prosecution confronted me with charges in 13 state security cases brought by the embassies of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, which are 13 attempts to overthrow Nasser Al-Duwailah."

He went on to say that unfortunately there are parties who have complimented those governments at the expense of Kuwaiti men and their freedom, adding, "But I faced a series of violations of my freedom and the violation of my right to expression which is firmly guaranteed in the constitution."

And based on his knowledge of the law as a lawyer;

Al-Duwailah confirmed that Kuwaiti law does not imprison the tweets for their tweets, and that this applies to the two complaints from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and then the imprisonment came on the basis of the charge of “misuse of the phone,” which is the law that was originally enacted to prevent harassment and protect families, and it was never included in the crime Political or expressive opinion.

The roots of the case go back to the lawsuit filed by the Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs based on a complaint from the Saudi embassy against Al-Duwailah, after he wrote his famous tweet, "Get up, Shakira."

Later, the appeals court sentenced him to one year in prison on charges of launching media campaigns on social media against Saudi Arabia and misuse of the phone, while acquitting him of the charge of insulting his country's relations with the Kingdom.

The Saudi embassy also included in its lawsuit an accusation to al-Duwailah of publishing the coordinates of a concert site for the Colombian singer Shakira inside the Kingdom, referring to the Al-Duwailah commenting on a tweet by a person called Nasser Al-Qahtani announcing the concert that he mentioned that the Saudi city of Abha will host him, and attaching its coordinates, so that the state will present Advice to the singer, saying "Take off, Shakira," which is an expression that means "run."

Here, Al-Duwailah explains that there was no ceremony for Shakira in the first place in Saudi Arabia, as well as that the coordinates were for a location in the Atlantic Ocean and had nothing to do with the Kingdom, but it was used as a reason for bringing Nasser Al-Duwailah to trial.

🔥 Kuwait’s judiciary did not yield to the pressures of Saudi Arabia and the UAE .. A final ruling concerning # Nasser_Dawleh, and no condolences for "Shakira" # Student_Education_Sesp_the Messenger # No_for the

renewal of the

Central

System Details⏬ https://t.co/lrAoE97MEx

- homeland.

Tweeting out of tune (@watan_usa) October 26, 2020

Al-Duwailah’s

tweets "Shakira's tweet" was one of 6 tweets by Al-Duwailah that he published over a period of 11 days. The court considered that it constituted a media campaign against Saudi Arabia, while Al-Duwailah believed that it was not related to any hostile act, and added, "I was dealing with general issues related to freedom of opinion. Expression, without prejudice to Saudi Arabia. "

Al-Duwailah says that among the tweets that were used against him, one criticized the party responsible in Saudi Arabia for publishing a schedule of parties and nightclub sites in "Google Maps", and said, "While your children dance in discos, our Kuwaiti children are fighting at the southern border as partners in good and bad times. So, either you are in a battle and a challenge, or you are in a party, but combining the battle and the party at the same time is not equal. "

As for the UAE's complaint, the Court of Appeal had sentenced him to 6 months imprisonment with work and enforcement and fined him 2000 Kuwaiti dinars (about $ 6,500) for insulting the UAE after his 3 tweets, one of which was about 5 years ago, and the other in 2018, while the last had been She was 9 months old at the time of the lawsuit.

Al-Duwailah states that one of the tweets dealt with his comment on the news of the Southern Movement's militia intercepting a Kuwaiti aid convoy in Yemen, criticizing the coalition forces standing idly by.

Al-Duwailah confirms that the tweets are not related to the Emirates, and that they have fallen by statute of limitations according to Kuwaiti law, which stipulates that they should not have passed 3 months ago, and while he was acquitted in the court of first instance, the Appeals Court ruled that he was imprisoned for 6 months and fined 2000 dinars, which is the maximum penalty that he specified Kuwaiti legislator.

Congratulations on the verdict, the

verdict of innocence echoed on the social networking site "Twitter", as congratulations and blessings poured out on the Kuwaiti and Arab Al-Duwailah, praising the Kuwaiti judiciary, and at the same time calling on the countries that submitted complaints against it to respect freedom of expression and constructive criticism.

The Criminal Court of Cassation

cancels prison sentences against #Nasser Al-Duwailah for insulting the UAE

and is

satisfied with a

fine of KD 1,000

((Thanks, thanks to the judiciary)) 😉👍🏼

- Youssef Al-Harbi (@YOUSEF_AL_FREAH) October 26, 2020

Al-Duwailah (65 years) spent 3 months in prison, before the court decided on October 12 to release him until the case is decided.

May God protect my brother Nasser Al-Duwailah.

I say the Emirates the Devil of the Arab world.

- The free Algerian 🇩🇿 (@ bejaia1901) October 26, 2020

Kuwaiti courts are competing with their ranks to lift judgments on #Nasser_Dwaila, while Saudi courts with their ranks to install judgments on # Salman_Odah

in Kuwait # Judiciary_Independent

in Saudi Arabia # Judiciary_LaHaja

- Hemaid Al-Suwaidi (@al_hemaid) October 26, 2020

Regarding the prison period, Al-Duwailah says that it is a rich experience that he will never forget.