Kuwaiti parliament lifts immunity of 9 MPs

The Kuwaiti National Assembly on Tuesday agreed to lift the parliamentary immunity of nine MPs accused of storming the assembly’s headquarters last November. Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) said the assembly agreed by a majority of 53 members to the public prosecutor's request to lift the parliamentary immunity of Musallam al-Barrak, Faisal al-Mislem, Walid al-Tabtabaei, Salem al-Nemlan, Falah al-Sewagh, Khaled al-Tahous, Mohammed al-Khelaifah, Mubarak al-Waalan and Jumaan al-Herbesh. The MPs had earlier said they wanted to cancel their immunity in solidarity with youths detained on the same charges by the authorities before being released on bail. The parliamentarians are accused of leading youth activists to storm the assembly’s headquarters last November after Kuwaiti police prevented them entering the offices of former prime minister Nasser al-Mohammad al-Ahmad al-Sabah. They were demanding his dismissal on the backdrop of a corruption case.