Musallam Al-Barrak
{{Short description|Former Member of the National Assembly of Kuwait}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image = مسلم البراك.jpg
| name = Musallam Al-Barrak
| native_name = مسلم محمد البراك
| nationality = Kuwait
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|mf=yes|1956|1|30}}
| birth_place =
| residence = Andalous, Kuwait City
}}
Musallam Al-Barrak ({{langx|ar|مسلم محمد البراك}}) is a Kuwaiti politician. He was a member of the Kuwaiti National Assembly representing the fourth district.
Background
Born on January 30, 1956, Al-Barrak studied geography and worked in the Municipal Council before being elected to the National Assembly in 1996. Al-Barrak affiliates with the Popular Action Bloc.{{cite web |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-155697941.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714221839/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-155697941.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 July 2014 |title=Popular Group to exert more pressure on govt. |author=A Saleh |date=9 December 2006 |work=Kuwait Times |publisher= |accessdate=2 November 2012}} Al-Barrak had been elected for six consecutive terms, making him the longest-serving member of parliament.{{cite web |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-276527226.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714140034/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-276527226.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 July 2014 |title=KUNA proceeds broadcasting reports, analytical studies on parliamentary |date=6 January 2012 |publisher=Kuwait News Agency |accessdate=2 November 2012}}
Parliamentary career
Al-Barrak was a member of the opposition parliamentary group Popular Action Bloc. In the 2006 parliamentary election, he won re-election with over 8,000 votes, the highest total in the election and an all-time record.{{cite web |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-147764836.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150329183426/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-147764836.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 March 2015 |title=Sheikh Nasser in the hot seat again |author=Ahmad Al-Khaled |date=3 July 2006 |work=Kuwait Times |publisher= |accessdate=2 November 2012}} In the February 2012 parliamentary election, Al-Barrak set a national record for the highest votes received in Kuwait elections history more than 30.000 votes.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20026581 |title=Kuwait: Political crisis at critical juncture |author=Kristian Coates Ulrichsen |date=22 October 2012 |publisher=BBC News |accessdate=2 November 2012 |archivedate=19 April 2013 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130419202128/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20026581 |url-status=live}}
In 2011 and 2012, Al-Barrak played a significant role in protests. In April 2012, he was stripped of his parliamentary immunity by the National Assembly for participating in the storming of the parliament building by protesters. In October 2012, Al-Barrak made a speech in which he broke with Kuwaiti precedent by saying that "we will not allow you (Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah) to rule individually..." He was arrested on 29 October for undermining the Emir and released on bail four days later. On 15 April 2013, he was sentenced to two years in prison.
In May 2003, Al-Barrak spoke against visiting Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, criticizing him for opposing the US-led invasion of Iraq. Holding an egg, he said: "This is what you are worth Hariri,... a rotten egg from the Kuwaiti people".{{cite web |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-73688955.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010172907/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-73688955.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 October 2014 |title=Lawmakers say Lebanese prime minister not welcome in Kuwait |date=4 May 2003 |publisher=Associated Press |accessdate=2 November 2012}}
Along with other Popular Action Bloc MPs, he criticized the government's Project Kuwait, which proposed international development of northern oil fields; Al-Barrak stated that they should be developed by a Kuwaiti company.{{cite web |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-137162031.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130125111207/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-137162031.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=25 January 2013 |title=MPs step up anti-Project Kuwait rhetoric |date=16 September 2005 |work=Middle East Economic Digest |publisher= |accessdate=2 November 2012}}
In 2006, he and fellow MP Ahmad Al-Saadoun questioned the government's cancellation of several contracts, and began meeting with the Audit Bureau. Also in 2006, he and Mohammed Al-Sager led the opposition to Minister of Information Mohammed Al-Sanousi's re-appointment, due to the limits they said he had placed on freedom of the press.{{cite web |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-147847290.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714223942/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-147847290.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 July 2014 |title=Lawmakers want 'clean' ministers |author=Ahmad Al-Khaled |date=5 July 2006 |work=Kuwait Times |publisher= |accessdate=2 November 2012}} Al-Sanousi resigned on 17 December 2006, one day before he was due to be grilled by parliament. Al-Barrak suggested Al-Sanousi had been forced to quit, calling it "a victory for the constitution, democracy and freedom".{{cite web |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-156024257.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714225509/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-156024257.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 July 2014 |title=Sanousi makes backdoor exit |author=B. Izzak |date=18 December 2006 |work=Kuwait Times |publisher= |accessdate=2 November 2012}}
Public prosecutors requested in July 2010 that the National Assembly strip Al-Barrak of his parliamentary immunity so that he could face charges of harming the national security, but the request was refused.{{cite web |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-230366797.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171031085834/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-230366797.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=31 October 2017 |title=
In August 2011, following reports that some MPs had received millions of dinars to their accounts, Al-Barrak called for the governor of the Central Bank of Kuwait to resign.{{cite web |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-265180018.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140611124354/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-265180018.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 June 2014 |title=Central bank governor of Kuwait faces ultimatum from lawmaker |date=25 August 2011 |publisher=Global Banking News |accessdate=2 November 2012}} In November, he participated in the storming of the parliament by protesters calling for Nasser Al Mohammad Al Sabah's resignation for corruption charges. He told reporters, "We are now waiting for the dissolution of government and the parliament ... Until this happens, Wednesday was only the first step among many. We don't fear anything except God."{{cite web |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-272691438.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415195014/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-272691438.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 April 2016 |title=Kuwaiti Protestors Storm Parliament |date=17 November 2011 |work=Kipp |publisher= |accessdate=2 November 2012}}
Loss of immunity and arrest
In April 2012, the Public Prosecutor requested that the National Assembly strip Al-Barrak of his parliamentary immunity for his role in the November 2011 storming of the parliament. On April 24, the Assembly voted in favor of removing Al-Barrak's immunity, as well as that of eight other MPs.{{cite web |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-287569425.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409123429/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-287569425.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 April 2016 |title=Parliament approves lifting immunity of MPs |date=24 April 2012 |publisher=Kuwait News Agency |accessdate=2 November 2012}}
On 20 June, the Constitutional Court ruled the February 2012 parliamentary elections unconstitutional, dissolving the new parliament in favor of the previous. Al-Barrak assailed the decision, calling it a "blatant attack on the choice of the people"{{cite web |url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/kuwait-court-rules-2012-elections-unconstitutional |title=Kuwait Court Rules 2012 Elections Unconstitutional |author=Hussain al-Qatari |date=20 June 2012 |publisher=Associated Press |accessdate=2 November 2012 |archivedate=9 January 2014 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140109162017/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/kuwait-court-rules-2012-elections-unconstitutional |url-status=live}} and "a coup against the constitution".{{cite web |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/06/201262010340921740.html |title=Kuwait court reinstates previous parliament |date=20 June 2012 |publisher=Al Jazeera |accessdate=2 November 2012 |archivedate=7 November 2012 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107111039/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/06/201262010340921740.html |url-status=live}}
Al-Barrak was arrested on 29 October for charges of "undermining the status of the emir".{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20165318 |title=Kuwait: Ex-MP Mussallam al-Barrak freed on bail |date=1 November 2012 |publisher=BBC News |accessdate=2 November 2012 |archivedate=14 January 2013 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130114004606/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20165318 |url-status=live}} On 1 November, thousands of people marched to the prison to protest his arrest. After the crowd refused an order to disperse, police fired smoke bombs and tear gas to break up the protest.{{cite web |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/11/2012111017063656.html |title=Kuwaitis protest jailing of opposition figure |date=1 November 2012 |publisher=Al Jazeera |accessdate=2 November 2012 |archivedate=2 November 2012 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102150921/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/11/2012111017063656.html |url-status=live}} Amnesty International issued a statement on Al-Barrak's behalf, stating that he had been detained "purely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression" and calling for the charges against him to be dropped.{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/news/kuwait-2012-10-31 |title=Kuwait: Charges against Musallam al-Barrak must be dropped |date=1 November 2012 |publisher=Amnesty International |accessdate=2 November 2012 |archivedate=2 November 2012 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102132847/http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/kuwait-2012-10-31 |url-status=live}}
On 15 April 2013 Al-Barrak was sentenced to two years in jail for his critical comments about the Emir.{{cite web |url=http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/kuwait/kuwait-opposition-leader-jailed-for-5-years-for-insulting-emir-1.1170537 |title=Kuwait opposition leader jailed for 5 years for insulting Emir where the law in Kuwait prohibited anyone to creticize ruler of Kuwait |author=Habib Toumi |date=15 April 2013 |publisher=Gulf News |accessdate=16 April 2013 |archivedate=19 April 2013 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130419070941/http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/kuwait/kuwait-opposition-leader-jailed-for-5-years-for-insulting-emir-1.1170537 |url-status=live}} Thousands of people took to the streets in protest of the verdict.{{cite web| title=Kuwaiti politician jailed for insulting emir| author=Ahmed Hagagy| publisher=Reuters| url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-kuwait-sentence-idUSBRE93E11120130415| date=15 April 2013}} A lawyer for Al-Barrak stated that "the ruling is null and void because it violated the legal procedures and for failing to provide the defence team with sufficient guarantees".{{cite web |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/04/201341591338679713.html |title=Kuwait jails former MP for 'insulting emir' |date=15 April 2013 |publisher=Al Jazeera |accessdate=16 April 2013 |archivedate=16 April 2013 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130416213715/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/04/201341591338679713.html |url-status=live}} The Kuwaiti Ministry of Information released its own statement saying that "Kuwait has a transparent and independent judicial system ... All citizens, regardless of their position, are equal in the eyes of the law. Anyone accused of a crime in Kuwait will get a fair trial with a comprehensive legal defense and open appeals process."{{cite web |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-16/kuwaitis-protest-against-sentencing-of-opposition-s-al-barrak.html |title=Kuwaitis Protest Against Sentencing of Opposition's Al-Barrak |author=Fiona MacDonald |website=Bloomberg News |date=16 April 2013|agency=Bloomberg |accessdate=16 April 2013 |archivedate=19 April 2013 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130419033249/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-16/kuwaitis-protest-against-sentencing-of-opposition-s-al-barrak.html |url-status=live}}
Release
On 21 April 2017 he was released by authorities after serving a two-year prison sentence in Kuwait's Central Prison.{{cite web|url=http://www.dailyastorian.com/kuwaits-most-prominent-opposition-figure-freed-from-prison-da-ap-webfeeds-news-nation-world856d2992978540539cd448564e727818|title=Kuwait's most prominent opposition figure freed from prison|publisher=The Daily Astorian}}
References
{{reflist|35em}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrak, Musallam}}