A Qatari poet sentenced to life in prison for inciting the overthrow of the government and insulting Qatar's rulers has had his jail term cut to 15 years, his lawyer said. Qatar’s supreme court is due to make a final ruling on Muhammad ibn al-Dheeb al-Ajami’s sentence within the next 30 days. Human rights groups have condemned Ajami's conviction, saying his trial was marred by irregularities, with court sessions held in secret. He was arrested in November 2011.

Ajami's lawyer, Dr Najeeb al-Nuaimi, plans to file an appeal to Qatar's highest court, and was optimistic. “We know at the end of the day he will be pardoned,” he told reporters. “Everybody knows. They told us. Even if he's sentenced for life, 15 years, whatever … [he is likely to be released] in a couple of months.”

The case against Ajami is said to be based on a poem he wrote in 2010 which criticised the emir, Sheikh Hamad al-Thani. But activists believe the authorities were angered by a 2011 poem he wrote about authoritarian rule in the region.

In the poem Tunisian Jasmine, which he recited and then uploaded to the internet in January 2011, Ajami expressed his support for the uprising in the North African state, saying: “We are all Tunisia in the face of the repressive elite.” He is also said to have also denounced "all Arab governments" as "indiscriminate thieves".

Ajami had previously recited a poem that criticised Qatar's emir and was posted online in 2010. He said the recital had taken place in front of a private audience at his home and not in public. Ajami, a father-of-four, has never disputed that he is the author of the poem, but has said it was not meant to be offensive or seditious.