KUWAIT CITY, Nov 23: Kuwaiti police on Wednesday arrested around 20 opposition activists on charges of storming parliament and more activists plan to give themselves up voluntarily, their lawyer said.
“In the morning, police arrested an activist at the airport. Later, about 19 others handed themselves in and more plan to surrender voluntarily,” coordinator of the opposition defence team Al-Humaidi al-Subaie told AFP.

A crowd of some 250 supporters and relatives of the activists gathered outside the police headquarters east of Kuwait City and briefly clashed with riot police.

At least one person was slightly hurt and taken to hospital, witnesses said. Some sources said the injured person was an opposition MP (Jamaan Al-Harbash) but the news could not be independently confirmed.
The arrested activists include former Islamist opposition MP Fahad al-Khanna and youth leaders. The detained activists will later be moved to the public prosecutor for questioning.

Subaie said that so far the public prosecutor has issued around 50 arrest warrants for opposition activists who stormed the parliament building last week after a rally and clashes with riot police.
HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah on Sunday called the incident at parliament a “black day” for the country and said that legal action will be taken against some 40 activists.
Subaie expected that more arrest warrants will be issued against other activists, but said that a large number have decided to surrender to police whether they are summoned or not.
“Right now, I am heading to surrender to police. They have called me for interrogation although I was not involved in storming parliament,” Mohammad al-Bulaihees, a youth leader, told AFP by phone.
“This is a deliberate government policy to arrest opposition youth activists in a bid to silence them,” he added.

Subaie said that around 100 activists plan to give themselves up to police under a campaign “Arrest us all,” launched by the opposition in protest against the arrests.
Kuwait’s opposition launched the campaign aiming to change the prime minister and dissolve parliament following an alleged corruption scandal involving around 15 MPs.
The opposition has also accused Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, a senior member of the ruling family, of transferring public funds into his overseas bank accounts. The government has denied the charge.

The Amir on Wednesday called in a statement for restraint and appealed to Kuwaitis to “unify ranks and refrain from division.” However, he also ordered the firm application of the law.
He also received a number of tribal chiefs who expressed their support for him.
Meanwhile, MP Jamaan Al Harbash has called for another rally at Al-Erada square next Monday in response to the arrests. Furthermore, the Opposition Bloc in statement warned of “intentions by the Office of
Parliament to fabricate charges against the MPs and citizens.”

The bloc said the Ministry of Interior (MoI) has followed through by chasing citizens. That is despite announcements by lawmakers that they directed protestors to enter the National Assembly to prevent confrontation with security forces who forbade citizens from leaving, the statement said.
The bloc further condemned the arrests and called on the National Assembly to withdraw the charges. It also held the Minister of Interior, Sheikh Ahmed Al-Humoud Al-Sabah, responsible.
Speaking to the press at the parliament on his way to the CID, following a meeting with opposition lawmakers, Al-Khanna announced that he and MPs charged with storming the parliament on Black Wednesday will hand themselves over to authorities. “We have done nothing wrong. The media distorts the truth,” he said.

Addressing “bribed MPs”, Al-Khanna added that the opposition will hold them accountable and that their place will be in prison if they are proven guilty. He added His Highness the Prime Minister, Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah, will also be held accountable it is proven he gave the bribes. “Abdullah Al-Salem Hall is the place of honorable people not thieves and robbers,” he asserted.

MP Faisal Al-Muslim condemned what the opposition call “police-state policies” of tracking-down and arresting protestors. He praised one of the detained activists of Al-Erada square, Yousef Bassam Al-Shatti, describing him as an upstanding citizen. Al-Muslim said Al-Shatti was on his way to London on an official government mission and was arrested at Kuwait International Airport.

“His parents do not know where he is located, if he’s at a police station or the CID or was referred to the public prosecution. Preparations are underway to arrest a large number of youth to settle scores and instill fear,” he said.

Al-Muslim stressed the security option used by the government is the wrong choice as the youth do not fear and their love is for Kuwait. A political solution, he added, is the best solution to overcome the crisis, which is for, to take the podium and face his interpellation next week.

MP Saifi Al-Saifi further criticized the arrests and said the youth on Black Wednesday were forced to enter Abdullah Al-Salem Hall to relay a political message that aims at reform and prosecuting the corrupt.
Moreover, MP Khaled Al-Sultan said in a statement that, while he objects to the parliament break-in, he understands the protestors had to enter the National Assembly to escape violence by security forces. He said he holds the Minister of Interior, Sheikh Ahmed Al-Humoud Al-Sabah, responsible for the abuse by security forces and the chasing of protestors.

Al-Sultan further questioned Minister of Education, Ahmed Al-Mulaifi, on reports that the government sponsored Tuesday’s pro-government rally and that school buses were used to transport the rally’s participants.

Meanwhile, MP Mubarak Al-Walaan forwarded questions to the Interior Minister on Tuesday’s rally. Al-Walaan asked whether the MoI had policies that forbid security officers from talking to the press without permission and if Major-General Mahmmoud Al-Dowsari, who spoke during Tuesday’s rally, had prior permission.