The Emir of Qatar His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani issued Law No. 4 of 2017 on Wednesday to amend some provisions of the Penal Code promulgated by Law No. 11 of 2004.

The new law stipulates that any person violating the sanctity of life of individuals without their approval would be subject to a punishment of not more than two years in jail or fine not exceeding QR10,000 or both.

These may include any of the following:

1. Opening a letter or telegram directed to someone else without the consent of the latter.

2. Eavesdropping a private telephone conversation or recording transferring dialogues or private conversations that took place in a special place using any devices;

3. Taking or transferring photos of individuals or a group of people in a special place using any device.

All points mentioned above are punishable under the new law if a person does any of them with a purpose of defaming or misuse.

Besides this, taking or transferring photos or videos of the injured or deceased in accidents, in an unauthorised manner will also result in similar punishments.

As such, Article 2 of the new law stipulates that all the bodies concerned in their area of specialisation must execute the law that will be published in the official gazette.