Kuwait's highest court today ordered an opposition leader and two lawmakers imprisoned for three-and-a-half years over the 2011 storming of parliament amid that year's Arab Spring protests, in a case involving nearly 70 politicians, activists and others.
Over a dozen people received prison time in the ruling by Kuwait's Court of Cassation, while the others were released on bail or found not guilty.
Tiny, oil-rich Kuwait, which has a history of representational government and toleration for protests, has been caught up in a wider crackdown on dissent across the Gulf Arab states, whose monarchical rulers were alarmed by the pro-democracy protests that swept the region seven years ago.
Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, the ruling emir of the US-allied nation, has said Kuwait must "protect our national unity and ward off the risks of sedition."