Kuwait's highest court upholds 6-year sentence for man who criticized Saudi foreign policy

Published June 11, 2015

Kuwait's Supreme Court has upheld a six-year prison sentence for a man convicted of "insulting" Saudi Arabia and "endangering bilateral relations."

Defense lawyer Badr Bakr says Thursday's ruling against his client, Saleh al-Saeed, cannot be appealed. He says it's the first ruling of its kind against a Kuwaiti citizen for "insulting" another Arab nation.

Al-Saeed, a blogger and commentator in his 50s, was found guilty in December 2014 of insulting Saudi Arabia and endangering Saudi-Kuwaiti relations after he appeared on a government-linked Syrian television channel and criticized the kingdom's foreign policies.

His charges also stemmed from his tweets criticizing Saudi Arabia's policy of arming rebels in the Syrian civil war and accusing the kingdom of funding extremists.

An appeal's court in February increased his sentence from four to six years.

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