KUWAIT CITY: Hundreds of Kuwaitis rallied have rallied to press for the release of an opposition writer and to protest at what they called a government plan to gag freedom of speech.
Mohammad Abdulqader Al-Jassem, also a journalist and lawyer, has been behind bars for a month pending trial on state security charges that he harmed national interests and undermined the status of the Gulf state ruler.
He has already faced two hearings in the criminal court which refused appeals by defence lawyers to release him. The third hearing is scheduled on June 21.
A large number of lawmakers, former MPs, political and rights activists who addressed the gathering, which continued until midnight on Wednesday, called for Jassem’s release and charged the government with clamping down on freedom.
"The only thing we are proud of in this country is freedom and they want to deprive us of it," declared writer Zayed Al-Zaid, who said Kuwait stands at the tail of its Gulf peers in development.
Kuwait became the first country among Gulf Arab states to embrace democracy, and have a parliament and constitution as early as 1962, but the experiment has been marred with major conflicts that led to suspending parliament twice.
"We were born free and we will die free," cried Islamist MP Jamaan Al-Harbash. "We will never allow anyone to steal our freedom."
Opposition MP Salem Al-Deqbasi charged that measures against Jassem are part of a government plan to clamp down on freedom of expression.
Spokesman for the opposition Popular Action Bloc MP Mussallam Al-Barrak, who hosted the gathering, accused the government of deliberately harassing Jassem to scare other writers and the opposition.
The lawsuit against Jassem, 54, was filed by the minister of the royal court, Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad, the elder son of Kuwait’s ruler.
It was based on articles written by Jassem on his website in the past five years that were deemed too critical, and also on three books the ailing writer has authored on the political situation in Kuwait.
Several international and local human rights organizations have called for the immediate release of Jassem, who is facing several other lawsuits filed by the prime minister.
