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November 30, 2012

Qatar Court Sentences Poet to Life in Prison 
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A court in Qatar has sentenced a poet to life in prison after accusing
him of insulting the emir and trying to overthrow the government.
Mohammad al-Ajami criticized regional rulers in his "Jasmine Poem,"
published after the Tunisian uprising last year, writing: "We are all
Tunis in the face of the repressive elite." Ajami has been held in
solitary confinement for a year. The sentencing comes as delegates from
nearly 200 countries are gathered in Qatar for the United Nations
climate change summit.

 

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