KUWAIT: The National Assembly will discuss today a proposal submitted to the Cabinet to modify a penal law number 16 / 1960, adding a sentence of imprisonment for at least 10 years for whoever publicly offends a sect, a group, a tribe or a person. The draft suggests that the punishment be meted out to whoever suggests such an idea verbally, in written text or in any other media. The aforementioned law was modified in Article 29 of law no 31 for the year 1970 to include whoever publicly calls for revolting against the ruling family or the ruling system in Kuwait.

The government's proposal which was published in media states, "Creating tension between the fabric of the Kuwaiti society to destroy the security and unity of the country. It is as dangerous as any offense tackled by the articles of this law, and it is necessary to add a third clause to put a stop to whoever plays with the future of Kuwait by sparking such tension.

This comes after the country was taken by storm as controversial former candidate Mohammad Al-Juwaihel spoke on a TV program on his private channel about the issue of dual citizenship, insulting a number of tribes and known Kuwaiti political figures. The incident was shortly followed by tension between Sunnis and Shiites as a Sunni religious center managed by Fouad Al-Refaei put up banners calling for celebrating the day of Ashoura, a mourning day for Shiite Muslims.

Reactions towards this law vary; while some people see it as a much needed step, others find that this limits their freedom. Nahla Al-Shemmari, a 29-year old, believes that this step only proves that the government learnt from its lesson and is on its way toward fixing the status quo.

We have so many private channels that broadcast selfish private agendas, and what's sad is that these channels broadcast outside Kuwait. The image they reflect of our country to the outside is really shameful; this law needs to be implemented especially during such times," she says.

Echoing her sentiments, Saad Al-Ajmi, 34, believes that this law will set the limits to what a lot of people have come to call 'freedom of expression.'
He lamented, "The sad reality is that we never see things the way we should. When someone offends a whole portion of our society, we insist that it is freedom of expression. We don't know that our freedom stops when it begins to harm others. We need organization; our media needs to be organized and our unity is being tempered with by a number of people whose interest is anything but Kuwait.

Sharing a different opinion, a blogger who refused to give out his identity told the Kuwait Times that the suggestion is extreme. "We do need regulation when it comes the freedom of expression but ten years is quite a big number. I say this only because I know that the interpretation of what is insulting varies from person to another, and although I believe in our judicial system, I find it exaggerated to put a ten-year imprisonment sentence. - Kuwait Times