Former Kuwaiti MP sentenced for UAE insult

A former member of Kuwait’s parliament has been sentenced to two years in prison for insulting the United Arab Emirates.

Mubarak Al Duwailah made derogatory remarks about the UAE during a television interview in December 2014 and was subsequently charged for insulting the country and putting Kuwait’s official relations with the UAE at risk.

The former lawmaker was acquitted by Kuwait’s criminal court in November last year, but the Court of Appeals rejected the non-guilty verdict on Tuesday, issuing its own ruling. The court said Al Duwailah would have the sentence suspended pending a payment of KD 1,000 ($3,315) and a commitment to irreproachable behaviour for three years.

Al Duwailah was sentenced for making comments about the crown prince of Abu Dhabi and deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed as well as accusing the UAE’s Judicial Department of fabricating evidence against a group of Muslim Brotherhood members who were imprisoned in 2012 for attempted sedition.

A leader in Kuwait’s Islamic Constitutional Movement – an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood – he was also sentenced to five years imprisonment by a UAE court in 2015. He was tried in absentia and legally named a felon.