In 2011, under the influence of the so-called Arab Spring, the number of persons publicly demonstrating for political reform and for jobs increased significantly, and in response Oman tightened its already severe limits on free speech, with police employing excessive force, arresting hundreds, and causing deaths and injuries. Sultan Qaboos pardoned 234 people who had committed “crimes of crowding in the streets.” The Press and Publications Law was made harsher, with the penalty for the publication of certain types of materials set at up to two years in prison plus a fine. Under the law, the editor-in-chief of the "Azzamn" newspaper, one of his reporters, and a source working for the Ministry of Justice were sentenced to five months in prison over an article that was deemed insulting to the Minister of Justice.