KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait’s court of appeals yesterday upheld a 10-year jail term against a Shia tweeter for remarks deemed offensive to Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him), his wife and companions.

Hamad Al Naqi, 23, who has been in jail since March 2012, was found guilty of the religious insults and of criticising the leaders of neighbouring Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, according to the court ruling. He was handed the heavy sentence by a lower court in June last year. The ruling can still be challenged in the supreme court. Naqi posted the offensive messages on two Twitter accounts in February and March of 2012, according to the ruling.

Naqi claimed his Twitter accounts were hacked during that period. In recent months, Kuwait has jailed tweeters and activists amid sectarian tensions between the emirate’s Sunni majority and Shia minority. 

Egypt investigates complaint against satirist Bassem 

CAIRO: Egypt’s state prosecutor ordered yesterday a probe into a complaint against television satirist Bassem Youssef after his show mocked both the military chief and the formerly ruling Islamists, a judicial source said.

Youssef, known as ‘Egypt’s Jon Stewart’ for modelling his show after the American comedian, debuted a new season on Friday in his first episode since the military overthrew Islamist president Mohamed Mursi in July.

State prosecutor Hisham Barakat ordered the investigation into one of several complaints against Youssef, which accuses him of inciting chaos, harming public security and insulting the armed forces.

Agencies