The lawyer for al-Ajami said he would appeal the verdict, the Associated Press reported.
“This judge made the whole trial secret,” said Najib al-Nuaimi. “Muhammad was not allowed to defend himself, and I was not allowed to plead or defend in court. I told the judge that I need to defend my client in front of an open court, and he stopped me.”
Al-Ajami was taken into custody in November 2011, months after a video of him reciting the poem, titled “Tunisian Jasmine,” was posted on the Internet. He has since been held in solitary confinement.
The poem lauded the 2010 Tunisian revolution, which set off the wave of anti-government protests elsewhere in North Africa and across the Middle East.
The poem read, “We are all Tunisia in the face of repressive" authorities and criticized Arab governments that “restrict freedoms.”
In October, Human Rights Watch (HRW) censured Qatar for a controversial draft media law that restricted the freedom of media and included harsh penalties for those who criticize Qatar or its allies.
Article 53 of the draft law prohibited publishing or broadcasting of information that would “throw relations between the state and the Arab and friendly states into confusion” or “abuse the regime or offend the ruling family or cause serious harm to the national or higher interests of the state.”
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A state security court in Qatar has sentenced a dissident poet to life in prison for a poem, inspired by Islamic Awakening, considering it insulting to the country’s emir.
On Thursday, the court found Muhammad ibn al-Dheeb al-Ajami guilty of “insulting” Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and “inciting to overthrow the ruling system.”
News ID 183515
