Kuwait Sentences Prominent Opposition Leader To Five Years In Prison
jonathanturley
Musallam el-Barrak,a leading opposition politician and a former member of Parliament, has been sentenced to five years in prison for comments he made during a speech at a political rally in October. The conviction has sent a chilling message to those who oppose the autocratic rule of the ruling family. By Western standards, el-Barrak’s criticism was remarkably subdued. In the speech, el-Barrak repeated a phrase that would become a slogan of the protest movement — “We will not allow you” — and warned the ruler about “practicing autocracy.”
The comments of el-Barrak were viewed as a positive development that perhaps the royal family would tolerate a small modicum of free speech. That proved wrong and el-Barrak was arrested soon after his speech.
It is good to see how our military intervention and support has yielded yet another abuse regime in this area.
