KUWAITI EDITOR CHOOSES JAIL OVER BAIL IN TEST OF

UNCLAS KUWAIT 001768 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS FOR NEA/ARP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM KU SUBJECT: KUWAITI EDITOR CHOOSES JAIL OVER BAIL IN TEST OF PRESS LAW REF: A. KUWAIT 1513 ¶B. KUWAIT 768 ¶C. KUWAIT 255 ¶1. (U) Hamad Turki Buyabis, editor of the Kuwaiti weekly Al-Shaab, was jailed May 15 after refusing to post bail in a case involving publishing material deemed offensive to the Amir. The Public Prosecutor's office had called Buyabis in for questioning because his weekly had published some of Al-Rai Al-Aam newspaper editor Jassem Al-Boodai's remarks to a visiting CODEL, in which Al-Boodai had made mildly disparaging comments about the Amir (refs A and C). The Al-Shaab article actually criticized Al-Boodai for speaking inappropriately about the Amir, but in so doing, also printed some of the offending material. According to the Kuwaiti Press and Publications law (ref B),it is illegal to publish anything that criticizes the Amir. ¶2. (U) According to a statement issued by Buyabis' defense team, the Public Prosecutor originally determined that Buyabis would have to post bail in the amount of 1000 Dinars (3460 USD). Salah Al-Hashim, Buyabis' lawyer, then met with the Assistant Public Prosecutor and explained how dangerous it was to imprison a journalist for simply reprinting what others had said. He demanded Buyabis be released without bail. The Public Prosecutor's office agreed to reduce the bail to 500 Dinars (1730 USD). Buyabis refused to pay any sum, considering that a restriction of his right to free expression. ¶3. (SBU) This case may evolve into a larger debate on freedom of expression. The press reports that 34 lawyers offered to represent Buyabis. Buyabis said this was the first implementation of the new Press and Publications Law and that he considered it a violation of his rights. The Journalists' Union publicly expressed its solidarity with Buyabis and offered to pay his bail. He refused the offer, which makes clear that he is trying to make a political point. Jassem Boodai himself told PDOff that Buyabis was trying to make a public stand. Abdul-Latif Al-Duaij, a loose-cannon Salafi columnist, wrote in the Al-Qabas daily that he congratulated Buyabis on his stand and declared his solidarity with him against the Press and Publications Law. Al-Duaij said he also wanted to take the occasion to congratulate himself, because he was the only one who had always opposed the law. ¶4. (SBU) Coincidentally, the Public Prosecutor's office had just announced that it would set up a body to deal with violations of the Press and Publications Law. Also coincidentally, the head of the Kuwait Journalists' Society issued a statement on May 5 extolling Kuwait for having achieved the highest ranking of any Arab country on the Reporters Without Borders 2005 annual press freedom rankings. (Note: Kuwait rose to 85th place overall after being ranked 103 in 2004. End note.) Ironically, he noted that Kuwait's new Press and Publications Law, plus the fact that there were no prisoners of expression, had contributed greatly to Kuwait's ranking. ********************************************* * For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s Visit KuwaitQs Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ ********************************************* * LEBARON