News / Persian Gulf

Kuwait police arrest senior political dissident

Saturday, 13 June 2015 6:11 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 13 June 2015 6:12 PM ]

Former Kuwaiti lawmaker and opposition figure Musallam al-Barrak (© Xinhua)

Security forces in Kuwait have detained a prominent opposition figure, who was on the run after being sentenced to two years in prison on charges of insulting the Persian Gulf kingdom’s monarch Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

Kuwaiti police raided a farm in Kabed area, which lies southwest of the capital, Kuwait city, early on Saturday and arrested Musallam al-Barrak as he was attending a dinner reception.

Lawyer Mohammed Abdel Kader al-Jassim said nine relatives of the 59-year-old former legislator were also detained.

He added that Barrak was placed in solitary confinement in a section of the Kuwait City’s Central Prison where inmates convicted of serious drug offenses are usually kept.

The opposition politician has reportedly gone on hunger strike in a show of protest at his imprisonment conditions.

On May 18, Kuwait’s Cassation Court, the highest court in the country, upheld a two-year jail sentence against Barrak.

“This ruling is without the slightest doubt political,” the senior Kuwaiti dissident reportedly said following the verdict.

In February, the Court of Appeals sentenced Barrak to two years in jail for insulting the Kuwaiti emir. He had initially been sentenced to five years in prison.

The case against Barrak dates back to 2012, when the Kuwaiti king made changes to the electoral law. The opposition saw the amendments as favoring pro-government contenders.

Barrak consequently gave a speech in which he directly challenged the monarch. Authorities then summoned the former lawmaker over what they described as “crossing the red line and insulting the emir.”

Criticizing Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah is unlawful in Kuwait, and the conduct is considered a state security offense. Individuals found guilty of “breaching” the law can receive prison sentences of up to five years.

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