Bahrain Mirror: The Court of Cassation overturned a one-year sentence of a 50-year-old Bahraini woman for insulting the judiciary and referred the case back to the court that issued the ruling.

This appeal is the first of its kind to be issued in light of the amendments made to the alternative penal code, as the woman applied for the issuance of an alternative sentence, after the ruling was upheld. Her application was approved, but after the new amendments to Law No. 18 of 2017 on alternative penalties, she is required to resort to the Court of Cassation in accordance with the principle of the most favorable law to the accused.

The Court of First Instance had sentenced the defendant to one year in prison on charges of publicly insulting the judiciary, and estimated 300 dinars for suspending execution of sentence. The appellant had sent a series of tweets on Twitter, which included terms that insulted the judiciary and specifically figures of the Sharia judiciary in the Kingdom, also creating a group on that social media network announcing her fight against the judiciary. She continued to sent these tweets throughout the period from 2013 to 2015.

The Public Prosecution referred her to trial on charges of publicly insulting the judiciary through electronic means. On December 13 2016, the court sentenced her to one year in prison which she appealed the appeal, and then the sentence was upheld, so she challenged the ruling in the Court of Cassation.

Arabic Version