Kuwaiti Dissidents Return After Pardon
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Following the Emir of Kuwait's pardon, three dissidents return to Kuwait with more expected to land in upcoming days.
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Jamaan al-Harbash, Mubarak al-Waalan and Salem al-Namlan arrive at Kuwait International Airport
Three Kuwaiti dissidents have returned to their country on Monday evening, following a pardon by Kuwait's Emir aimed at easing tensions with the opposition who has been embroiled in a months-long confrontation with the government.
Kuwait's Emir, Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah, issued two decrees on Saturday to pardon and reduce the sentences of 35 dissidents, 11 of whom are politicians who have been living in a self-imposed exile in Turkey for the past 10 years after they were put on trial in their home country.
Jamaan al-Harbash, Mubarak al-Waalan and Salem al-Namlan who were sentenced for participating in anti-corruption and maladministration protests against the government, culminating in the storming of parliament in 2011, arrived yesterday at Kuwait International Airport.
Supporters and local reporters gathered at the airport to receive the three political figures.
Kuwaiti MPs said that Musallam al-Barrak, one of the dissidents included in the pardon, is expected to arrive on November 17.
The country's Al-Rai daily had published the names of the Kuwaiti nationals included in the pardon, some of whom were embroiled in a number of cases.
The Emir had accepted on Sunday the government's resignation in a bid to end disputes with opposition legislators, who insisted on questioning Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khaled al-Sabah, despite parliament granting him a temporary immunity from questioning from March 2011 until the end of 2022.
