Kuwait court orders opposition chief retrial

KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait’s appeals court yesterday quashed a five-year jail term given to opposition leader and former MP Mussallam Al-Barrak last month for allegedly insulting the emir and ordered a retrial, a defense lawyer said.
“The (appeals) court declared the lower court verdict against Barrak illegal and canceled it. It also agreed to call witnesses in the next hearing,” Mohammad Abdulqader Al-Jassem told AFP.
The appeals court has said it will retry the case at a hearing set for June 9, Jassem added.
The lower court handed Barrak the sentence on April 18 even after the defense team walked out of the trial when the judge refused to summon a number of dignitaries as witnesses.
Jassem said the defense lawyers have demanded that the court summon Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Sabah, a senior member of the ruling family, as a witness in the case.
However, he said it was still unclear whether the appeals court will include the premier as a witness.