(RSF/IFEX) – RSF is protesting the prison term given to the journalist Fouad al-Hashem. According to RSF’s sources, on 26 December 1998, al-Hashem was sentenced to three months in prison by the Kuweit City magistrate’s court for an article he wrote in June 1997 in the daily “Al-Watan”. Al-Hashem’s article was a jocular comment about […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF is protesting the prison term given to the journalist Fouad
al-Hashem. According to RSF’s sources, on 26 December 1998, al-Hashem was
sentenced to three months in prison by the Kuweit City magistrate’s court
for an article he wrote in June 1997 in the daily “Al-Watan”. Al-Hashem’s
article was a jocular comment about a controversy over travel expenses paid
by an oil company to prosecutors who were investigating alleged embezzlement
by their own officials. According to the court, the article was “insulting
to public prosecutors.”
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the Emir of Kuwait:
press offence is regarded by international bodies responsible for human
rights as out of proportion to the damage sustained by the victim
al-Hashem
Appeals To
His Highness Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmed al-Sabah
Emir of the State of Kuwait
Al-Diwan al-Amiri – Al-Safat
Kuwait City, Kuwait
Fax: +965 245 74 76
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
