KUWAIT CITY, June 25: The Criminal Court deliberated Monday on the legislative building storming case and scheduled another hearing for Oct 8 to request for lifting the parliamentary immunity of the lawmakers involved in the case.

A total of 68 activists have been implicated in the case, including MPs Musallam Al-Barrak, Waleed Al-Tabtabaei, Faisal Al-Mislem, Jamaan Al-Harbash, Falah Al-Sawagh, Mubarak Al-Waalan, Khalid Al-Tahous, Salim Al-Namlan and Mohammad Al-Khalifa. The Public Prosecution had earlier charged them with storming into the Parliament, damaging its contents, disrupting legislative sessions, and causing injuries to security officers.

However during the session, the lawmakers denied all the charges. The court then ordered for their release because their parliamentary immunity remains in effect due to the reinstatement of the 2009 Parliament.

In the meantime, the Misdemeanor Court postponed until July 9, 2012 the hearing on a petition filed by Mohammad Al-Juwaihel against the verdict of First Instance Court, which had previously sentenced him to two years in jail with hard labor for defaming MP Daifallah Buramiya.

Case files indicate Buramiya accused Al-Juwaihel of uttering offensive words against him in a program aired on Al-Soor Channel.

The session was presided over by Judge Abdul Nasser Khuraibet.

Agencies:
The court accused the activists with various charges including storming parliament, resisting police, unauthorised gathering and urging policemen to disobey orders, Al-Humaidi Al-Subaie, one of the defence lawyers, told AFP.

If convicted, the men could face jail terms of between three and 10 years depending on the charge, the lawyer said.

The court set its next hearing for Oct 8 to allow time for defence lawyers to read the case documents, and for the court officials to ask parliament to lift the immunity of the nine lawmakers, Subaie said.
All the activists are free on a $3,600 bail each. Some of them were arrested at the time of the incident and detained for two weeks.

Hundreds of opposition youth activists stormed parliament on Nov 16 following clashes with riot police during a massive rally to demand the resignation of former prime minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.

HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah accepted his resignation on Nov 28 and replaced him with his deputy Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Sabah.

The protests came on the heels of allegations of two corruption cases involving at least 13 members of the parliament elected in 2009 and dissolved by the emir in December, and the former premier. A new parliament was elected in February.

Kuwait’s Constitutional Court, however, nullified the legislative polls last week, scrapping the new parliament dominated by the opposition and reinstating the old pro-government house.
The opposition rejected the verdict, describing it “null and void” and called on its supporters to demonstrate on Tuesday.