Hamad al-Naqi (born c. 1988) ( ar, حمد النقي) is a

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

i activist and

blogger A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order s ...

who in June 2012 was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment for charges pertaining to provoking sectarian tensions and blasphemous tweets against the

prophet Mohammed Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monoth ...

. His arrest triggered international outcry from

human rights organization A human rights group, or human rights organization, is a non-governmental organization which advocates for human rights through identification of their violation, collecting incident data, its analysis and publication, promotion of public awareness ...

s and world leaders.

Criminal charges

Al-Naqi was arrested on 27 March 2012 and taken to Kuwait Central Prison. After he was stabbed in the neck by another inmate on 19 April, prison officials announced that they were putting al-Naqi in

solitary confinement Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which the inmate lives in a single cell with little or no meaningful contact with other people. A prison may enforce stricter measures to control contraband on a solitary prisoner and use additi ...

for his own protection. During his trial, prosecutors told the court that his comments "were likely to stoke

sedition Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, estab ...

within the community and mobilize segments alongside sectarian lines", Al-Naqi pleaded not guilty, contending that he had not posted the messages and that his account had been hacked. A judge found al-Naqi guilty on all charges—"insulting the Prophet, the Prophet's wife and companions, mocking Islam, provoking sectarian tensions, insulting the rulers of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain and misusing his mobile phone to spread the comments"— and on 4 June gave him the maximum prison sentence of ten years. His lawyer stated that al-Naqi intended to appeal. Al-Naqi, who is a

Shi'ite Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most n ...

, allegedly used Twitter to criticize the

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

monarchies of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, who were experiencing sectarian tensions during the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in T ...

-inspired Bahraini uprising.

Reactions

Media commentators described al-Naqi's case as demonstrating "growing tensions between the country's

majority and Shiite minority". Al-Naqi's sentence was protested by

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

, which stated that "Kuwaiti authorities clearly violate international rights standards when they punish Hamad al-Naqi for criticizing neighboring monarchs ... This harsh sentence appears designed to intimidate other Kuwaitis from exercising their right to freedom of expression."

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

designated al-Naqi a prisoner of conscience and called for his immediate and unconditional release. A spokeswoman stated that "criticizing religion is a protected form of expression and should not be criminalized ... Nor should individuals be subject to imprisonment for insulting heads of state or other public figures or institutions." The

Arabic Network for Human Rights Information The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) was a non-governmental organization devoted to promoting freedom of expression across the Middle East and North Africa. It was founded in the year 2004. Based in Cairo, Egypt, the organization ...

denounced the

blasphemy Blasphemy is a speech crime and religious crime usually defined as an utterance that shows contempt, disrespects or insults a deity, an object considered sacred or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a religiou ...

charge against al-Naqi as a "cover-up" and an excuse to "gag" political opponents.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naqi, Hamad Kuwaiti people of Iranian descent Kuwaiti prisoners and detainees Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Kuwait Living people Kuwaiti Shia Muslims Year of birth missing (living people)

Criminal charges

Reactions

See also

References