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POLICE IN KUWAIT have arrested a resident, an Egyptian man, for posting a video online in which he rants about bad weather and dust storms.
The arrest underscored the country’s restrictions on expression and drew criticism on social media over his detention.
Kuwait’s Ministry of Interior said the person behind the “offensive” video was arrested and referred to authorities, which would “take the necessary legal action against him”.
In a dashboard camera video posted on the social media app TikTok, the man can be heard complaining about the blinding sandstorm that has engulfed Kuwait for the past few days.
“I’m inside a dust storm right now, I literally can’t see anything in front of me,” the man says, showing the dust coating the road like a thick fog.
“Fine, Kuwait, fine,” he adds, with an expletive in Arabic.
The clip went viral on Twitter, racking up tens of thousands of views.
Some social media users, who saw the arrest as a sign of Kuwait’s crackdown on free speech and mistreatment of migrant workers, showed their support for the Egyptian man by posting their own videos insulting the weather.
In a region full of governments hostile to free expression, the Gulf Arab state of Kuwait stands out for its outspoken parliament and relatively vibrant civic life.
However, authorities routinely use the cybercrime law to police criticism and prosecute dissidents.
The tiny sheikhdom, which like others in the Persian Gulf depends on the labour of millions of low-paid migrants from Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, often faces criticism from human rights groups for its treatment of foreign workers, who remain vulnerable to deportation for minor offences.
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If I wasn’t allowed give out about the weather, I’d have nothing to say to anyone…
@john healy: If a complaining about the weather law in Ireland was introduced we would have to build approximately 50,000 new prisons.
@ShaneO’Mac: it would be akin to banning hurling or the GAA itself. What would we talk about. Awkward silences would madden any mother’s son.
@Jakie McLean: Just think of those moments when you are stuck in a lift
@john healy: Meanwhile, all over the West we are not allowed to call a pandemic’s variant by the country first diagnosed in.
@Contrary Mary: and if you do you’ll be imprisoned? Get over yourself
We are going to need a bigger jail
@Andy mc Laughlin: haha nicely done
National past time here!
@Ciaran O’Brien: pastime!
The way things are here now, it sounds like something we would do if NEPHT recommended it….
@James Cronin: Didn’t think that it was possible to crowbar a reference to NEPHET into a story about an arrest in Kuwait for complaining about the weather but you managed it. Bravo sir.
It only rained twice this week, once for 4 days and once for 3 days
If it doesn’t rain between the showers, it will be fine.
Clearly nobody Irish would get on very well in Kuwait.
And this is the country the US “saved” from Sadam.
@Fr. Fintan Stack: the US led coalition, to be accurate.
@Randy Felcher: forgiveable slip given the US is the country that still bang on about it like they saved the world in Gulf War 1.
@Randy Felcher: “the US led coalition, to be accurate.”
The Coalition of the Willing. Dave Chapelle described it best in his news report, Black Bush.
@Randy Felcher: The US didn’t need or care if other countries were on board. But having a few token troops from other countries made it seem more politically correct.
Mother of devine jesus, imagine that happening here. Jails full in a day.
@Mary Paget:
The difference, is we have no law against whinging.
Not that I agree with the laws over there, but if posting as a foreign national, there is some onus on following laws of the country you’re in.
Same goes for any local law.
the way i talk about the weather i be burned on the stake
Storm in a teacup
@John O Reilly: not for the lad thrown in jail
A grand stretch in the evenings in that part of the World would increase your height by about a foot after a few hours on the rack.
Hilarious weird complaining dust storm that mother nature
Give him a clatter
Let’s be serious now, almost no rain here for last 6 weeks. We are not complaining about the weather. Ridiculous to say we always complain about the weather. The farmers need rain though. And the birds have no water to drink.
I wonder if all females there have the same rights that Mother Nature does? Hmm
@Seány: I’ve been here in Kuwait for 8 years and I can tell you yes, the ladies have the same rights as the men.
@Randy Felcher: the right to remain silent !?
@John Utara: it’s quite a liberal country in comparison to most other GCC States. But freedom of speech isn’t what it is in the West.
I’ve been to much worse places, Kuwait’s not bad.
If you insult the country you can expect to be deported, and rightly so. If someone doesn’t like it they can always leave.
No complaints from western countries about people’s freedom in that bloc of countries Saudi etc forgot we like them oil
its obvious thats its traction not weather thats scare Kuwait
What in the communism is this ?
All governments all hostile to free expression. They have different ways of showing it. I’d imagine this guy was arrested for cursing, not complaining about the weather.
have your say