Abdulhakim Al-Fadhli is a Kuwaiti human rights defender and general coordinator of the Kuwaiti Bedoon Coalition. He has been detained and imprisoned many times for his activism on behalf of Kuwait’s stateless Bedoon and other minority communities in Kuwait since 2019. On 15 March 2022, he was summoned for the third time that month by the Public Prosecution in Kuwait in connection with alleged charges of insult, defamation, and accusations that affect the reputation and work of a government employee. These allegations stemmed from a complaint filed against him by Colonel Mohammed Al-Sharaf, a director in the Central Apparatus for Illegal Residents Affairs. The case centred around the alleged use of a Twitter account to make accusations that Colonel Al-Sharaf used his position to extort women from the Bedoon community, a charge which Al-Fadhli denied. Following the interrogation, Al-Fadhli was released on bail. Previously, he had been investigated on 09 and 10 March, before the Public Prosecution and the Department of Electronic Crimes, respectively. These successive investigations were linked to the same complaint filed by Colonel Al-Sharaf. On 01 September 2022, the Misdemeanours Court acquitted Abdulhakim Al-Fadhli of all charges against him. However, in November 2023, an appellate court had summarily reversed the trial court’s acquittal of Al-Fadhli in the case brought by Colonel Al-Sharaf. On 13 May 2024, Al-Fadhli was directed to pay 2,000 Kuwaiti Dinars (approx. 5949 EUR) to Al-Sharaf as damages in that case. 

In yet another matter, prosecutors accused Al-Fadhli of tweeting phrases “that would offend Ahmed Nabil Al-Fadl,” a former Assembly member. On 14 May, 2024, the trial court found Al-Fadhli guilty and directed him to pay 2,000 Kuwaiti Dinars (approx. 5949 EUR) to the government.