Kuwait jails MPs, activists for 2011 parliament storming
Kuwait’s Supreme Court has issued final jail sentences for two opposition lawmakers and other activists over role in a 2011 mutiny in the country’s parliament and also conviction for assaulting police.
Six former lawmakers of parliament and five activists also received similar 42-month jail term for same convictions on Sunday.
The parliament storming in November 2011 came after people protested against corruption in the government of then Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad al-Sabah.
The mass protest, which led to the resignation of Sabah, a member of the ruling family, led to one of the most publicized court cases in Kuwait's history.
In its Sunday rulings, the Supreme Court also handed down two-year prison sentences to three other activists, including a former lawmaker. It acquitted 17 activists while some 34 others were found guilty of storming the parliament but were not punished, without any explanation.
Among those sentenced to 42 months in prison is Mussallam al-Barrak, a senior opposition figure and a former member of the parliament. He was sentenced to two years in prison in 2015 for insulting Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.
Waleed al-Tabtabai and Jamaan al-Harbash are the two serving lawmakers convicted by the Supreme Court. The verdicts are final and cannot be appealed and those convicted cannot run for public office again.
Kuwait, a small oil-rich emirate, hardly tolerates dissident voices. However, it has one of the most active parliaments among Arab countries of the Persian Gulf region. The government has dissolved the parliament seven times since 2006 due to disagreement with the opposition.
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