Kuwaiti gets two years for insulting emir on Twitter

6 January 2013, 22:27 (GMT+04:00)

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A Kuwaiti court on Sunday sentenced an activist to two years in prison for insulting the Gulf state's ruler on his Twitter account, local media reported.

Al-Enezi had called on followers to take part in a rally held Sunday demanding that the parliament be dissolved and the electoral law changed, dpa reported.

The opposition - comprising Islamists, nationalists and liberals - had staged mass protests ahead of the December 1 elections over a royal decree amending the electoral law.

The Emir, Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, has slammed the demonstrations as "acts of chaos."

Over the past two years, several activists have been jailed for posting anti-government statements on social networks in neighbouring Gulf countries, including Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Rashed al-Enezi was in the courtroom for the session, according to his last post on the social network.