29 October 2012
Qatar's Amir with Former Israeli PM Livni
"A poet facing a secret trial in Qatar after being detained since last year is a
possible prisoner of conscience and must be released immediately and
unconditionally if he has been detained solely for his peaceful criticism,
Amnesty International has urged as the one-year anniversary of his arrest
approaches.
Mohammed al-Ajami – also known as Mohammed Ibn al-Dheeb – was arrested on 16 November 2011 in the capital Doha, and later reportedly charged with “inciting to overthrow the ruling system” and “insulting the Amir”.
The prosecution’s case against him is reportedly based on a poem he wrote in 2010 criticizing Qatar’s Amir, but Gulf activists have alleged the real reason for his arrest was his “Jasmine Poem”, written in 2011 in the context of unrest across the Middle East and North Africa.
“Mohammed al-Ajami has now spent almost a year behind bars in solitary confinement apparently solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression. If that is the case, he would be considered a prisoner of conscience and should be released immediately and conditionally,” said Philip Luther, Middle East and North Africa Programme Director at Amnesty International.
Al-Ajami’s “Jasmine Poem” broadly criticizes governments across the Gulf, stating that “we are all Tunisia in the face of the repressive elite”........"
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