A Qatari poet sentenced to life in prison for inciting the overthrow of the government and insulting Qatar’s rulers has had his jail term cut.
Mohammed al-Ajami’s sentence was reduced to 15 years, his lawyer said.
The Supreme Court is due to make a final ruling on his sentence within the next 30 days.
Human rights groups have condemned Mr Ajami’s conviction, saying his trial was marred by irregularities, with court sessions held in secret.
The case against Mr Ajami is said to be based on a poem he wrote in 2010 which criticised the Emir, Sheikh Hamad al-Thani.
But activists believe the authorities were angered by a 2011 poem he wrote about authoritarian rule in the region.
In the poem Tunisian Jasmine, which he recited and then uploaded to the internet in January 2011, Mr Ajami expressed his support for the uprising in the North African state, saying: “We are all Tunisia in the face of the repressive elite.”
He also denounced “all Arab governments” as “indiscriminate thieves”.
read more…http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21572072
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