25. The provisions of the new Cyber Crimes Law now serve to cast a further shadow over the activities of human rights defenders and private citizens expressing critical opinions. Article 6 of the Cyber Crimes Law extends the scope of the Article 27 of the Printing and Publishing Law to statements made with the use of “information networks” or “information technology”, under which provisions the Emir may not be criticised or quoted without written permission from his office. Violations can be punished with a fine of up to 20,000 KD (approx. USD$65,555). 26. Article 6 also prohibits Internet-based statements deemed to criticise the judicial system or harm Kuwait’s relations with other states, or that publicise classified information, without exceptions for disclosures in the public interest. 27. The discrete charges brought against Al-Drees under the 2015 law underscore the willingness of the police and prosecution to use a new Cyber Crimes Unit to monitor communications and recommend charges for merely “criticising” the Emir, alongside charges of “insulting or defaming him” under Article 25. 28. The protection afforded to the Emir under the laws is almost blanket and constitutes a severe interference with freedom of expression. 29. The case of Al-Drees is indicative of how wide-ranging the use of Article 25 has become. The tweets themselves, at most, might be said to constitute an indirect reference to the Emir since the writer is commenting upon a pardon granted by him in 2013. But the main thrust of the tweets is on the Defendant’s feelings as regards her former conviction and the pressure she remains under to remain silent. She is making the point that the pardon does not mean she accepts her guilt. 30. Such extreme sensitivity to any mention of the Emir in this sort of context, allied to systematic monitoring of interactions on Twitter, is highly likely to lead to further prosecutions and continues a pattern of the law’s regular use since 2012. 31. The government’s new telecommunications law, adopted in May 2014, imposes severe penalties on people who create or send “immoral” messages, and gives unspecified authorities the power to suspend communication services on national security grounds. 32. Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states: Article 19 1. Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference. 2. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice. 5