KUWAIT: A National Assembly guard sprung a major surprise in court yesterday by telling the judge that he was ordered by the commander of guards to open the main outside gate of the National Assembly for protesters, refuting his commander's testimony that protesters broke open the gate. The testimony is so crucial that it may deal a massive blow to the case against 70 opposition activists and former MPs who are on trial for allegedly storming the Assembly building and damaging some property during a protest on Nov 16, 2011.
Mubarak Al-Hajeri, who was on duty on that day, told the court that the Assembly guards commander Maj Gen Bassam Al-Refai, who was a brigadier at the time, ordered him to open the gate for protesters after receiving a call on his mobile. Refai, who was recently promoted to his current rank, earlier told the court that protesters forced the gate open and stormed the building.
Hajeri was even more explicit when he told judge Hisham Abdullah that he was approached by some national guards officials and asked to state that it was former opposition MPs Waleed Al-Tabtabaei and Musallam Al-Barrak who led the demonstrators to open the gate and storm the Assembly. He said he insisted on giving the correct account on one of the most controversial events in Kuwait's political crisis. Another guard, Fahad Al-Azemi told the court that the protesters did not initiate any violence nor they assaulted the guards. They did not also try to force the gate open.
The 70 defendants, including 11 former MPs, are facing charges of storming a public building, assaulting soldiers and wounding some of them besides damaging public property, for which they face several years in jail. The activists had strongly denied that they forced the gate open or intended to damage any public property, saying they decided to lead protesters into the Assembly to avoid an imminent clash with riot police.
The incident came during a public rally organized by the opposition to press for the resignation of former prime minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, who submitted his resignation less than two weeks later. Following a marathon hearing that lasted more than nine hours, the court set April 15 for the next session to hear the testimony of several new witnesses including Assembly Secretary General Allam Al-Kundari.
In another development, the constitutional court yesterday said it will issue its verdict on the controversial amendment of the electoral constituency law on June 16. It will also rule on a number of other election petitions. The ruling will be extremely crucial on the future of the political crisis in Kuwait as it could nullify the amendment and the whole election held on Dec 1 which means that the existing pro-government Assembly will be dissolved. Almost all opposition groups and activists boycotted the general election in protest against the amendment of the electoral constituency law which reduced the number of candidates a voter can pick from four to just one. The opposition had said the change was aimed at electing a pro-government Assembly.
General Coordinator of the Opposition Coalition and former opposition Barrak said yesterday the Coalition has decided to go back to the street in a series of protests and rallies ahead of the constitutional court's ruling. Speaking after a late night meeting of the Coalition bureau on Sunday, Barrak said the first rally will be held outside the Palace of Justice on April 10 to highlight the jailing of several opposition tweeters and former MPs. The Coalition will also hold rallies on April 17 and 24 and a protest on May 1 outside Jaber Stadium near Ardiya because the stadium symbolizes corruption, Barrak said. He said the Coalition plans to hold a huge protest after that but gave no date or venue.
© Kuwait Times 2013
