Kuwaiti Representative Sentenced to 14 Years for Insulting Saudi Arabia

On Wednesday, August 6, the Kuwaiti Criminal Court sentenced Abdulhamid Dashti, a member of parliament, to 14 years and six months in absentia for insulting Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. According to the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Qabas, the court sentenced Dashti to 11 years and six months for insulting Saudi Arabia and three years for insulting Bahrain. Dashti has been accused of jeopardizing Kuwait's diplomatic relations with both Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Last month, the Bahraini parliament revoked Dashti's judicial immunity due to several ongoing cases against him. Insulting the Kuwaiti judiciary regarding issues that the Kuwaiti government claims are linked to Iran and Hezbollah, as well as insults to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, are among these cases. Dashti, known for his support of the policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, left Kuwait four months ago and informed the parliamentary leadership that he was undergoing treatment in the UK due to illness. This Kuwaiti MP, who has repeatedly criticized the ruling families in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, has other legal cases that could increase his sentence. About two months ago, Dashti called for questioning the Kuwaiti Foreign Minister over the country's participation in the Saudi-led Arab coalition in Yemen, which was formed against the Houthis. However, the Kuwaiti parliament did not allow Dashti to question the Foreign Minister. He believes that Kuwait's participation in the Arab coalition is unconstitutional. In 2010, Dashti criticized Saudi intervention in Bahrain to assist the country's government forces in suppressing protests led by Shiites. The Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs had officially complained against Abdulhamid Dashti to the judiciary, following an official protest note from the Saudi embassy, which accused Dashti of insulting Riyadh in an interview with the Syrian television network Al-Ikhbariya.