Kuwait appeals Court Orders Opposition Chief Retrial

Kuwait's appeals court Monday 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 cancelled it. It also agreed to call witnesses in the next hearing," Mohammad Abdulqader al-Jassem told Agence France Presse.

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 defence team walked out of the trial when the judge refused to summon a number of dignitaries as witnesses.

Barrak, a nationalist former MP, was sentenced to jail over remarks he made at a public rally on October 15 deemed offensive to the emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah.

The jail sentence sparked angry protests by opposition activists that turned into clashes with police which used tear gas and stun grenades, wounding several protesters in the process.

Meanwhile, Kuwait's opposition decided to boycott any future poll under a controversial electoral law amended last year, even if the constitutional court upholds the amendment next month, a former MP said.

The highly anticipated verdict is due to be handed down on June 16.

Opposition former MPs "decided to boycott the next election if the constitutional court confirms" the amendment, Faisal al-Muslim said after a lengthy meeting early on Monday.

Kuwait's 50-seat parliament is entirely made up of government loyalists, with not a single opposition lawmaker after the opposition boycotted a general election last December.

Under the amended law, ordered by Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah in October, each voter chooses a single candidate compared with a maximum of four under the previous law issued in 2006 after popular protests.

Muslim said Monday's meeting was attended by 24 former MPs and the boycott decision has authorization from at least six others, as well as being backed by many opposition groups.

The electoral law divides the oil-rich Gulf emirate into five electoral districts, with 10 MPs elected from each district to the 50-seat parliament.

As a result of the amendment, almost all opposition groups and former MPs boycotted the December poll on the grounds that the amendment allows the government to manipulate election results to create a rubber-stamp parliament.

The opposition former MPs decided "that without reinstating the 2006 electoral law, they will not participate in any polls," Muslim said.

The constitutional court, whose rulings are final, is due to rule next month on 23 challenges to the amended electoral law and the December election process.

Among the possible decisions is that the court may scrap the amendment and order the dissolution of parliament.

Kuwait has been gripped by political crisis for months because of the amendment, and several protests against the law have turned violent.