Friday, November 30, 2012

Qatar Jails A Poet And Screens Movies At Tribeca


A poet will face life in prison in Qatar after penning verses that state officials deemed insulting to the nation's emir and an incitement to topple the government, his attorney told news agencies Thursday.

Rights activists say Mohammed Ajami was arrested over his “Jasmine Poem,” which skewered governments across the region, at one point declaring, “We are all Tunisia in the face of the repressive elite.” He had previously recited a poem criticizing the emir, according to free speech groups.

But who cares about one poet? The government clearly does not, and that's not stopping them from promoting films and freedom of speech at their own version of Tribeca film festival that's being held at the moment with the presence of many Arab and few international stars. Whatever you do just do not insult the leader of the land....this is a farce people.

Mohammed Ajami did nothing wrong, he spoke his mind in a place that has seriously promote free speech for all those who have something nice to say about the Emir. Do not get me wrong, I love many things Qatar did and how they are trying to do more, but they have also done a number of mistakes as well. Jailing Mr. Ajami should not be one of them.

Here's how I see this ending, the Emir of the land will parson the poet, and the poet will come out and apologize about his poem. Not fair by any means, but the Emir doe snot need the bad press as the story has been picked by the global press now.

As for the film festival in Qatar, it looked like the Algerian and Tunisian cinema were big winners, as they have collected the top awards. An Egyptian women won an award for the documentary she made about men and their role in society. A young Saudi women director also won for a movie she filmed about women of Saudi Arabia.

"التائب" يحصد جائزة مهرجان ترايبيكا السِّينمائي

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