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Triumph of Freedom

Triumph of freedom is not only a mere triumph; however, a real establishment of constitution principles and society public culture. Kuwait has been famous with the freedom of speech though some think that such a freedom has been diminishing. In fact, today Kuwaiti courts issue a judgement exonerating one of Kuwaiti newspapers after publishing news of an accused with details. It was thought that such a case will be condemned so it will not be easy to express one’s point of view freely when it comes to public opinion cases. Yet, the Kuwaiti court addressed this issue and considered that the publication of abused names or real news does not harm the press as media with its different fields and journalism in particular are responsible for addressing truth which is, in fact, its effective and expected role. Any attempt to underestimate the role of media in investigating truth is not acceptable by the Kuwaiti court and in contrast to this it must have the ultimate rights to discover the truth.

Publishing real news is not a crime and this judgment is not the first one but it is deemed important as it is backing the freedom of speech and showing how paramount the freedom of speech in the Kuwaiti Society is. Such a judgment is also a good answer for those who undervalue the freedom of speech as the real change occurs when there is a serious struggle against corruption through spreading such real news.

Lawyer : Yousif Al-Hussainan