Canadian jailed for 10 years in Kuwait over Daesh links
Defendant was also charged with defaming Arab leaders online
Cairo: A Kuwaiti criminal court has sentenced a Canadian national to 10 years in prison on charges of promoting the terrorist Daesh (Islamic State or Isis) organisation's ideology and defaming Arab leaders.
The defendant was charged with joining a banned group with the intention of spreading principles aimed at destroying the country’s basic system and calling for joining the group via social media, Kuwaiti newspaper Al Rai reported.
He was also charged with committing a hostile act against Arab countries, by publishing via his TikTok account video clips insulting Arab leaders in a way that put Kuwait at the risk of severing ties with friendly countries, added the report.
The defendant, who is of Arab origin, was also accused of buying unregistered phone lines using his bank account and providing them to other people to use the Telegram app with the purpose of joining Daesh and communicating with its members, the Kuwaiti newspaper Al Anba said.
In 2015, some 27 people were killed in the bombing of a Shiite mosque in Kuwait. The bombing claimed by Daesh was carried out by a suicide attacker during the congregation Friday prayers in Al Sadeq Mosque.
The terrorist attack was the first of its kind in Kuwait in more than two decades.
Last year, an inmate convicted of involvement in the bombing attack was executed. He was charged with aiding the suicide bomber by driving the attacker to the mosque. Five other defendants were tried in absentia and sentenced to death. Eight others were sentenced to 15 years in prison each in the same case.