Doha: A top Qatari court on Monday upheld a 15-year jail term handed to a poet convicted of incitement against the regime, his lawyer said.
“The Court of Cassation sentenced Mohammad Al Ajami to 15 years in prison,” confirming the sentence given to the poet by an appeals court in February, Najeeb Al Nuaimi said.
Al Ajami was handed the sentence in November after the state security court found him guilty of “inciting to overthrow the ruling system” and “insulting the emir” in a poem he allegedly recited in Cairo.
Qatar said that the sentence was not an abuse of freedom of speech, but action against an illegal call to overthrow political regimes, a violation of the local law.
The case has received wide international attention as Qatar has assumed a large role on the global scene after it won the distinction of becoming the first Arab and Muslim country to host the football World Cup finals in 2022. It was also selected to host the handball World Cup finals in 2015.
The country has also been getting special mention for its role in promoting change in several Arab countries, especially Tunisia, Egypt and Libya and for its leading drive for political changes in Syria.
The poet is represented by Al Nuaimi, a distinguished lawyer who was at one time a justice minister in the Qatari government.
