18. Bail was granted on condition of 500 Kuwaiti Dinars (approx. USD$1,640) being paid
and a travel ban imposed. She was taken back to the prison, again handcuffed, before
being released at around 5pm.
19. A subsequent hearing set for 27 October 2016 was adjourned and therefore the next
stage in her trial was on 24 November 2016 in which the Defence wished to call a
police officer from the Cyber Crimes Unit who had identified the tweets that were the
cause of the prosecution.
The Tweets
20. The four tweets, in order, stated as follows (this is not a translation shared with, or
approved by, the Defendant). The pardon is a reference to the post-conviction pardon
granted to her in 2013. Musallam Al-Barrak is a former MP and opposition movement
leader who is currently serving a two-year sentence for “insulting the Emir.”
Tweet No 1
“When the pardon was issued and I was released from
prison, the simple and the naive were telling me ‘you
should thank God and be grateful’, and every time I wrote
something they told me ‘don't you ever repent?’ Just
because of the fact I was pardoned, I was labelled as a
person who had done something wrong.”
Tweet No 2
“I should not have been detained in the first place. How
can we be justly imprisoned because of an opinion, and
then released as if we are guilty?”
Tweet No 3
“Frankly, I think that excluding Musallam Al-Barrak from
the general pardon was better for him. For now he is not
beholden to anyone the way we are - and I have complete
confidence in his strength and patience.”
Tweet No 4
“I am saying this because I was pardoned and I am very
familiar with the feeling of being beholden to someone
worthless, and because of my affection for Musallam AlBarrak I consider too good to be put in such a position.”
21. The tweets are, on the Defence’s case, addressed to Al-Drees’ critics on Twitter and
are part of a longer conversation between her and her detractors. The reference to
“( السذجsadhij”), “the credulous/simple/naive”, in the first tweet is, on her case,
directed to those contacting her on Twitter while “( مترديةmutaradia”), “worthless”
refers to the same.
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