http://digitaljournal.com/article/329623

Kuwait royal arrested for political tweets

Kuwait - A member of Kuwait's ruling royal Al-Sabah family has been arrested by state security police for expressing political views opposed to the ruling family's policies, via social networking sites.

Kuwaiti royal Sheikh Meshaal al-Malek al-Sabah was arrested on Thursday when he returned to Kuwait from Saudi Arabia, and has been held in detention since. Prior to his arrest Sheikh Meshaal had posted messages on social networking site Twitter which were deemed politically offensive.

Sheikh Meshaal holds political ambitions and has stated his intention to stand as an MP, and if successful expose corruption amongst officials.

Alarabiya reported the rights group, the Gulf Forum for Civil Societies, criticized the Sheiks arrest, saying he was arrested "because of his courageous views that opposed the policies of the Kuwaiti ruling family."

Islamist opposition MP Waleed al-Tabtabai criticized the arrest and the return of the government policy that results in those who express their opinions via social media being harassed. Last year Digtial Journal reported blogger Abul Nasser was arrested in Kuwait, for posting negative comments about Bahrain's al-Khalifa and Saudi Arabia's al-Saud royals on Twitter.

According to Amnesty International the Kuwaiti constitution guarantees freedom of opinion, both verbally and in writing.