SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – A Saudi court started the case of a Wahhabi cleric for composing a poet and placing it on Twitter which is alleged to insult a member of Saudi consultative parliament. The case is brought to court by Isa Al-Qaith against Sheikh Mohammad Al-Arifi who allegedly insulted him on the Twitter. The trial is now scheduled for June 2013. Al-Qaith says the poem on Twitter is an internet crime with punishment of one year prison sentence together with 133000 dollar fine.
The other accusation of temporary marriage is counted as breach of private limits with punishment of five year prison term together with 800000 dollar fine. The Saudi judicial sources say Sheikh Arifi who has lots of followers on Twitter did not attend the hearings but his lawyers were present. The judge expelled all reporters from the court. According to Lebanon’s Al-Safir Newspaper, Arifi is a controversial Wahhabi cleric and his poem on Twitter accused Al-Qaith of being secular.
