Twitter user sentenced to 10 years in Kuwait for insulting Gulf States

A criminal court in Kuwait has issued a new ruling in absentia to imprison Kuwaiti Twitter user Abdullah Al-Saleh for 10 years for insulting the Gulf States.

The ruling is part of a string of prosecutions against Al-Saleh, who was sentenced to five years in prison on Sunday for publishing insulting articles against Saudi Arabia and endangering the two countries’ brotherly ties.

In December Al-Saleh was found guilty of “abusing Saudi Arabia” and sentenced to five years hard labour. He has also been found guilty of insulting the UAE and Bahrain.

Al-Saleh has sought asylum in the UK.

Read: Kuwait protests at ‘insult’ by Saudi official-agency

Abdullah Al-Saleh is known for his strong criticism of the authorities in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, and for defending Doha over the six-month blockade crisis. His YouTube channel has over 22,000 subscribers.

Al-Saleh is one of a number of political activists in Kuwait facing imprisonment for contributing towards conflicts between Saudi and Qatar.