Shahab Murtadha Ghafoori, an Iranian expat Instagram personality with more than a million followers, spent ten days in detention for a comedic skit in which he "insulted God."
operating an Instagram page with more than a million followers
Shahab Murtadha Ghafouri is an Iranian Instagram personality. He has been subject to frequent investigations and arrests for his content, which is sometimes deemed immoral by authorities. In August 2019, one such incident occurred, this time charging him with blasphemy. The charge stemmed from a video skit posted to Instagram in which Shahab speaks to a patient in a hospital bed.
“If you go to paradise, tell God to let me enter too.” - Shahab’s “blasphemous” comment from the video
The public prosecutor considered Shahab’s comment to be an insult to God. It appears that he was not ultimately sentenced for the crime of blasphemy. However, he was arrested and detained on the accusation, reportedly spending ten days in prison.
Kuwait is formally an emirate where Islam is the official state religion. Roughly three-quarters of the population is Muslim, and the most sizeable religious minority is Christian. Ridiculing religious practices can result in fines and/or a year's imprisonment, and other laws prohibit the publication or public expression, including on the internet, of material that denigrates or otherwise offends a recognized religious group.