KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait’s appeals court yesterday suspended the implementation of a three-year jail term for three former opposition MPs sentenced last week for insulting the emir, their lawyer said.
“The court set them free until their case has been settled,” Mohammad Al Jumia wrote on his Twitter account.
When the lower court handed down the jail term on Tuesday, it ordered that the three politicians be jailed immediately, but police did not arrest them and the appeals court agreed to set a quick date to review their case.
The three former lawmakers attended yesterday’s court hearing at which the judge detained them briefly before issuing the ruling. However, the court asked the three — Khaled Al Tahus, Falah Al Sawwagh and Bader Al Dahum — to pay bail of $17,850 each and set March 10 for the next hearing. The former MPs were charged with undermining the status of the emir during an address at a public gathering on October 10 in which they warned that any amendment to the electoral law could lead to street protests. AFP
