Harsher penalties for insulting Qatar and GCC national flags
By Qatar Living •
A draft law approved by the Advisory Council yesterday proposed stringent punishment for insulting the national flags of Qatar and other GCC states, The Peninsula reported.
According to the draft which was approved unanimously by the Advisory Council, people found insulting Qatar's national flag or the national flag of any other GCC state or of any international entity could be jailed for up to three years and fined up to QR200,000.
The draft proposes that damaging the flag or tearing it or bringing it down in an insulting way would constitute a serious crime.
The fine for the above crime was up to QR15,000 but the draft seeks to raise it to QR200,000.
What do you think of this, QLers?
Photo by Faith Zan
National Flag represents the Nation. Everybody should respect National Flags either it belongs to their country or others and should be punished for any wrong/disrespectful acts. But I don't agree the second statement by NJ Leite..."Given the fact that the vast majority of persons in (especially) Qatar are expats coming here to earn good money to send home, the minimum they should do is have respect for the country that hosts them" - The blame cannot go as common to all Expatriate and it should not be considered expatriate are looting. As a Expatriate we are doing our job for mutual benefit for us and for Qatar even though many expatriate are suffering with minimum comfort/working environment which has been discussed a lot worldwide already.
Ani_chi who are 'they'? and what happened to freedom of expression? anyway, what does raising the penalty indicate to you?
well, they say, a Flag represents a country and it's people and it's history and cultural background, and when you disrespect a flag, you disrespect not just the country, but also its people and culture...that being said, the comment above by NJ is thoughful rather than ignorant...
The first comment is rather ignorant - "that the vast majority of persons in (especially) Qatar are expats coming here to earn good money to send home" err...who are the vast majority of expats in Qatar exactly? Laborers perhaps, and we all know how happy they are - right?
The previous year(2012) the thousands of tiny paper flags were on the road of corniche. Who will be punished for this?
What pains me most is that while people are very eager to hoist the flag on National Day as a show of love for the nation, many just leave it behind on the post for months to face the ravages of the weather. After a short period of time, the flags left flying on house-tops and buildings, get discolored and also torn to shreds by the wind. Those hoisting the flag are possibly unaware that taking care of the flag is equally important and the responsibility of each and every person living in Qatar, be it locals or otherwise. The flag should be lowered after the National Day passes and kept safely somewhere.
Cudn't agree more with Comment above.
It is unacceptable that anyone should be disrespectful to the national flag of any nation. Presumably there has been a high level of abuse in the region. Given the fact that the vast majority of persons in (especially) Qatar are expats coming here to earn good money to send home, the minimum they should do is have respect for the country that hosts them.