Barrak sentenced to 5 years in jail
Threat of protests, civil disobedience
KUWAIT CITY, April 15: One of Kuwait’s opposition leaders was sentenced to five years in jail on Monday, convicted of making statements offensive to HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and undermining his authority at a public rally last October.
Former MP Musallam AlBarrak was handed the sentence by Judge Wael Al-Atiqi amidst heavy security presence at the Justice Palace to prevent the oppositionist’s supporters from rallying. “The court sentences the defendant Mussallam Al-Barrak to five years in prison with immediate effect,” said the judge.
The opposition coalition, comprised of the Majority Bloc that headed the scrapped 2012 assembly as well as umbrella affiliations, subsequently announced the staging of marches in protest of the Criminal Court’s ruling, first of which on Monday evening.
At a gathering entitled “no to political trials” on Saturday, opposition former lawmakers warned of street protests that could lead to “civil disobedience” if Al-Barrak is imprisoned.
Al-Barrak’s lawyers said they will appeal the verdict immediately and described “This ruling is null and void because it violates Article 34 of the Constitution and Article 120 of the criminal procedure law,” said Abdulrahman AlBarrak, one of the opposition leader’s lawyers.
Offense
Al-Barrak is the fourth oppositionist former lawmakers to be sentenced to jail for the state security offense. Falah AlSawagh, Khaled Al-Tahous and Bader Al-Dahoum were also convicted on Feb 5 and sentenced to three years in prison. However, they were released on a KD 5000 bail each after they appealed a verdict. Several opposition Twitter activists were also convicted and given jail terms.
Al-Barrak’s defense team had last week walked out of court after the judge refused requests to hear defense witnesses who included HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, former opposition MPs Jamaan AlHarbash and Khaled Sultan among others. The judge refused Al-Barrak’s request to postpone the trial until he finds a new lawyer.
At his diwaniya in AlAndalus area, and amidst supporters and oppositionist former lawmakers, Al-Barrak said the ruling is “illegal” and “unfair” but that he will face his arrest and jail term.
Late Monday evening, large crowds of opposition activists and their supporters gathered at Al-Barrak’s diwaniya and marched in the direction of the Central Prison in protest to the court’s ruling. Security forces monitored but did not interfere in the march, which included the convicted opposition leader.
Prior to the march a number of the activists and opposition former lawmakers reportedly repeated some of the statements of which Al-Barrak was convicted for.
According to the criteria of the elections law, if the Court of Appeals and the Court of Cassation uphold the Criminal Court’s verdict, Al-Barrak will be prevented from contesting in future parliament elections.
The opposition has been staging protests since December 2012 to demand the dissolution of Parliament elected using the one-vote electoral system. They demand the scrapping the new electoral system, which they believe has been decreed unconstitutionally, and a number of oppositionists have also been calling for an elected government. Agencies add: Kuwaiti stocks dived over 100 points or 1.4 percent immediately after the ruling was announced but most of the losses were recovered later.
Former liberal MP Abdulrahman alAnjari said “the ruling is purely political ... far away from the principles of justice.”
The verdict came two days after the Kuwaiti opposition threatened to stage street protests and call for civil disobedience if Barrak was denied a fair trial and jailed.
Independent political analyst Mohammad al-Ajmi said he expects a serious escalation of opposition-led protests after the verdict.
“I believe that escalation of protests is inevitable because of Barrak’s heavy political weight and as he is considered an important symbol for the opposition,” Ajmi told AFP.
The Information Ministry defended the ruling and Kuwait’s judicial system.
“Kuwait has a transparent and independent judicial system. All citizens, regardless of their position, are equal in the eyes of the law,” the ministry said in a statement sent to AFP.
“Anyone accused of a crime in Kuwait will get a fair trial with a comprehensive legal defence and open appeals process,” it said.