Three members of Kuwaiti royal family handed prison sentences for insulting judges over WhatsApp

They have each been sentenced to five years in prison

The Emir of Kuwait, whose nephew is one of the three jailed for the messages (Getty Images)

Three members of the Kuwaiti royal family have been handed five year prison sentences for insulting judges over WhatsApp.

Among the three royals is Athbi al-Fahad Al Sabah, the former head of Kuwait’s National Security Office and the nephew of the country’s current ruler.

The royals were sentenced on Monday alongside four other co-defendants who had been accused of insulting Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah. Phone logs of WhatsApp messages obtained by the court show the defendants planning to publish anonymous Twitter posts sharing fabricated videos of judges receiving bribes, a 122-page ruling seen by the Associated Press stated.

Three of the other four defendants were sentenced to five years in prison, while one person was sentenced to 10 years. All defendants are able to appeal.

In 2013 a female teacher was sentenced to 11 years in jail for insulting the Emir on Twitter.

Sources close to the case said at the time that Huda al-Amji, 37, had been given two consecutive five year sentences for insulting the Emir and one year for insulting a religious sect.