West Asia

Kuwait clears 70 opposition activists

339021_Kuwait-protest

A Kuwaiti court says 70 opposition activists, including nine former lawmakers, were found ‘not guilty’ in connection with the 2011 storming of the parliament building.

“All the defendants were found not guilty” of charges, judge Hisham Abdullah wrote in his ruling on Monday.

Mohammad al-Jassim, a lawyer defending the opposition members, hailed the verdict as a “turning point.”

The defendants were facing charges of storming the parliament building, assaulting police, resisting orders and damaging public property over the incident.

On November 16, 2011, hundreds of angry protesters briefly entered parliament to demand the removal of then Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad al-Sabah over corruption allegations.

Two weeks later, Sheikh Nasser resigned when Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah dissolved parliament and called fresh elections.

Kuwait was the first Arab state in the Persian Gulf to establish an elected parliament in 1962. However, the al-Sabah family remained in control of key posts, including the premiership and the ministries of defense, interior, and foreign affairs.

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