Kuwait Court to Examine Opposition Leader's Appeal

Kuwait's appeals court will review next week a challenge filed by opposition figure Mussalam al-Barrak against serving a five-year jail term for insulting the emir, his lawyer said on Thursday.

"The court set April 22 to review the appeal we have filed," defense attorney Abdulrahman al-Barrak wrote on Twitter.

The court has the authority to keep Barrak out of prison until it has settled the case.

Barrak, a nationalist former MP, was sentenced to jail on Monday over remarks he made at a public rally on October 15 and deemed offensive to the emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah.

Although Barrak said he is prepared to go to jail at any time, he has refused to turn himself until he is given the original arrest warrant, and authorities have been unable to arrest him so far.

On Wednesday, riot police fired tear gas and stun grenades at thousands of opposition activists who marched on a police station near Barrak's house to protest a bid by elite special forces to raid the home of the opposition leader.

The health ministry said Thursday that 15 men, including 12 policemen, were wounded in the confrontations that followed, but activists claim many more were hurt and were treated privately for their injuries.

The director of the Kuwait Society for Human Rights, Mohammad, al-Humaidi said on Twitter that as many as 19 protesters have been arrested and are under investigation for taking part in an unauthorized protest.

The interior ministry condemned the resort to violence, "shooting in the air" and said demonstrators used fireworks against security men, wounding several of them.

A ministry statement said unlicensed gatherings and other violations of the law will be firmly dealt to preserve the security and safety of Kuwait.

Opposition activists have called for another gathering later in the day to protest against the Barrak sentence.

The Gulf country has been rocked by a bitter political crisis over the past several months after the emir amended the electoral law in a move the opposition claims was unconstitutional.