KUWAITI EDITOR RELEASED WITHOUT BAIL AFTER FUROR

UNCLAS KUWAIT 001788 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS FOR NEA/ARP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM KU SUBJECT: KUWAITI EDITOR RELEASED WITHOUT BAIL AFTER FUROR OVER HIS DETENTION REF: A. KUWAIT 1768 ¶B. KUWAIT 768 ¶1. (U) Hamad Turki Buyabis, editor of the Kuwaiti weekly Al-Shaab who was detained on May 15 for breaking Kuwait's Press and Publications law (ref A),was released from custody May 16 without having to post bail. Buyabis refused to pay bail following questioning by the Public Prosecutor's office over his publication of an interview by Arabic daily Al-Rai Al-Aam editor Jassem Al-Boodai in which Boodai made critical remarks about the Amir while speaking privately to a U.S. CODEL. ¶2. (U) The Public Prosecutor's office said that it had released him on "personal guarantee" (i.e. no money) out of respect for Kuwaiti journalism and according to its usual practice of treating the press with mercy. The office went on to say it respects the freedom of the press, and that the Press and Publication Law does not include imprisonment as a punishment. (Note: The law only calls for imprisonment for criticizing God or Islam. (ref B) End Note.) According to the Al-Qabas Arabic daily, Public Prosecutor Hamid Al-Othman reassured the head of the Journalists' Society via telephone that his office does not have a predisposition against journalists and that Buyabis was responsible for his imprisonment because he had not agreed to pay the bail. An editor of one of Kuwait's Arabic dailies told PDOff that the release stemmed from the Journalists Society and general public reaction to Buyabis' jailing. ********************************************* * For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s Visit Kuwait's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ ********************************************* * LEBARON