KUWAIT CITY, July 8: Twenty-eight MPs recently met at the office of MP Muhannad Al-Sayer in the National Assembly to deliberate on the Public Prosecution’s decision to detain poet Jamal Al-Sayer for 21 days for offending the Amiri entity. These MPs issued a statement, citing Article 31 of the Constitution: “No person may be arrested, imprisoned, searched, have his residence restricted or be restrained in liberty of residence or of movement save in conformity with the provisions of the Law. No person shall be subjected to torture or to ignominious treatment.” The MPs expressed objection to the arrest of Jamal on the street in full view of passersby despite the fact that his address is known and he is a famous personality. They claimed this attitude is a reflection of the path adopted by the government in order to settle political disputes through security authorities — a dangerous indication as it entails restriction of freedom and violation of the law.

Opinion
They said the prosecution has disregarded the amendment of Article 69 of Penal Code No. 17/1960 issued in January 2021, prohibiting the detention of individuals involved in opinion cases. They called for holding an extraordinary parliamentary round and a special session to discuss the prosecution’s non-enforcement of Law No. 1/2021 amending Penal Code No. 17/1960, the law on filing complaints against judicial verdicts, and the proposal to specify the term of those occupying senior judicial positions. By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh Arab Times Staff