A Kuwaiti man has been sentenced to two years in prison for insulting the country's ruler on Twitter, Reuters reported.
Rashid Saleh al-Anzi, 26, allegedly wrote the tweet directed at emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah (pictured below) in October. Reuters said that al-Anzi, who has more than 5,700 followers on the networking site, plans to appeal the charges.
The arrest is one of several recent Gulf area crackdowns on political opposition through social media. On Monday, Reuters reported that an additional Kuwaiti blogger, Ayyad al-Harbi, was sentenced to two years following his arrest in late 2011 — also regarding a critical tweet toward Al-Sabah.
Other areas of the Gulf Region have taken similar actions. According to the Associated Press, a Qatari poet was sentenced to life in November for an Arab Spring-themed poem that officials claimed insulted the country's emir. He is appealing the charges as well.
Watch the video above to learn more. Do you think this is fair? Should online criticism be reason for an arrest?
Via mashable
