(CPJ/IFEX) – On 24 June 1998, a criminal court sentenced Muhammad Jasim al-Saqr, editor-in-chief of the leading daily newspaper “Al-Qabas”, and Ibrahim Marzouk, a free-lance journalist with the same paper who is based in Egypt, to six months in prison in connection with a joke published in the 5 January edition of “Al-Qabas”. The four-line […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – On 24 June 1998, a criminal court sentenced Muhammad Jasim
al-Saqr, editor-in-chief of the leading daily newspaper “Al-Qabas”, and
Ibrahim Marzouk, a free-lance journalist with the same paper who is based in
Egypt, to six months in prison in connection with a joke published in the 5
January edition of “Al-Qabas”. The four-line item presented a teacher
asking a student, “Why did God expel Adam and Eve from paradise?” The
student responded, “Because they did not pay the rent.”
Al-Saqr and Marzouk, the latter of whom was sentenced in absentia, were
charged with “insulting the essence of the Divine Being” (misas bilzat
al-ilahiyya) in a legal suit initiated by the Ministry of Information. In
addition to the imprisonment penalties handed down against the journalists,
the court also ordered the closure of “Al-Qabas” for a period of one week.
The court rulings are apparently effective immediately.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
Ibrahim Marzouk and the suspension of “Al-Qabas” flagrant violations of the
internationally recognized right of journalists to report news and opinion
freely – the right to “seek, receive and impart information and ideas
through any media and regardless of frontiers,” as guaranteed by Article 19
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
their published work inhibits the ability of the press to work freely and
runs counter to universally accepted norms for press freedom
the convictions of al-Saqr and Marzouk and to ensure that the Kuwaiti
judiciary abide by international standards for free expression
publishing without interference
Appeals To
His Excellency Sheikh Saad al-Abdullah al-Sabah
Crown Prince and Prime Minister
Al-Diwan al-Amiri
Al-Safat
Kuwait City, Kuwaitc/o the Kuwaiti diplomatic representative to your country
(in the United States of America)
Embassy of Kuwait
2940 Tilden Street N.W.
Washington, DC
20008 U.S.A.(in Canada)
Embassy of Kuwait
80 Elgin Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 1C6 Canada
Fax: +1 613 780 9905
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
