Kuwait University teacher sentenced to imprisonment for speech

Kuwait University teacher Ahmad al-Baghdadi told the AFP that a court in Kuwait sentenced him to one month imprisonment over charges that he published several articles that were considered an insult to Islam.

The teacher, who is the chairman of the political sciences department at Kuwait University, expressed his shock over the sentence released against him by the court of cassation.

He added, "I am very worried. It is not easy to go to jail because of what you have said, especially when what you had said is very ordinary."

Meanwhile, al-Baghdadi's colleagues expressed their shock over the prison sentence. One of them commented, "It is a sad and regrettable day. It is a step back for Kuwait."

Meantime another two Kuwaiti liberal women writers, Laiyla al-Othman and Alya Shueib, are currently being sued by the judicial side backed by Islamists because two of them used "immoral" words in their publications. The two women will be presented before the court on November 10.