Kuwaiti MPs to seek pardons for jailed politicians and activists
Several Kuwaiti MPs plan to seek pardons this week for politicians and activists jailed for storming parliament in 2011.
The parliamentarians met at opposition MP Mohammed Al Mutair’s diwan to form a committee to meet the “political leadership”, a term typically referring to the office of the Kuwait emir, the only authority in the country capable of issuing pardons.
The court on Sunday sentenced five opposition activists and two serving and six former members of parliament to three and a half years in jail each.
Three other activists were sentenced to two-year prison terms, while another 34 people found guilty had their sentences dropped. Seventeen of the accused were acquitted.
Among those sentenced was Musallam Al Barrack, who served six consecutive terms in parliament and is considered by many as the leader of the opposition movement. He was jailed for five years in 2012 for insulting the emir.
The storming of Kuwait’s National Assembly building in November 2011 came amid calls for the resignation of prime minister Sheikh Nasser Al Mohammed Al Sabah.
The case has been bogged down in Kuwait’s complex legal system but the accused were found guilty in January and jailed for seven years.
They were released on bail pending an appeal to the Court of Cassation, which cut their terms by half, on June 8.
Some MPs said those sentenced should be grateful.
“They caught a break – several of the current MPs are still calling for more action to be taken against them.
“They know they are accused of more than just storming the parliament. We’ll get to the bottom,” said a source close to the MPs.
Some MPs have questionioned Kuwait’s political climate and called for MPs elected in 2009 and 2012 to be held accountable.
“I am not with the action of entering the parliament but I am shocked at the case of the deposits, which found 13 members of parliament receiving millions of dinars from unknown sources,” said Riyadh Al Adsani.
The MP said the law should be applied to everyone of that time. The public prosecution shelved the case but not the one for storming parliament.
Mr Al Adsani said the case should be revived so corrupt MPs “who walk around freely are punished”.
He said some of those who received deposits, believed to be bribes, were current members of parliament. “Some said they would sue me, but they couldn’t because they know I am right and I have all the details to prove it,” Mr Al Adsani said.