RABI ALAWWAL 10, 1439 AH TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2017 Max 22º 32 Pages 150 Fils Established 1961 Min 13º ISSUE NO: 17393 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf www.kuwaittimes.net $10,000 in sight for bitcoin as UK’s Prince Harry to marry From Palestinian refugee camp to Brazil scouts search 22 it rockets to new record high 30 US actress Meghan Markle 32 London, Paris, Dubai boutiques 15 for future Neymars Appeals court jails 67 over storming Assembly in 2011 3 sitting Islamist MPs convicted • Barrak handed 9 years behind bars By B Izzak and Agencies KUWAIT: In one of the toughest rulings in Kuwait’s MoI mulls online judicial history, the appeals court yesterday handed 67 opposition activists - including three sitting lawmakers and several ex-MPs - harsh jail terms for storming the iqama renewal; National Assembly building six years ago. Among the main sentences, the court handed prominent opposition reduction of leader and former MP Musallam Al-Barrak nine years in jail. Barrak was released from prison in April after serv- ing a two-year sentence for insulting HH the Amir at a health fees urged public rally. KUWAIT: Residency Affairs Department Director It also sentenced three serving lawmakers to jail - Musallam Al-Barrak Waleed Al-Tabtabaei Jamaan Al-Harbash Mohammad Al-Mutair General Maj Gen Talal Maarafi said the department Waleed Al-Tabtabaei and Jamaan Al-Harbash to seven is discussing a plan to renew residencies online, and years in jail each and Mohammad Al-Mutair to one year Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, who was forced to step down two defendants, said the sentence came as a shock. “The is studying offers from various companies for this in prison. All of them are prominent Islamists. There weeks after the incident. defendants weren’t given an opportunity to defend purpose, Al-Rai reported yesterday. He said another were brief but defiant comments from the three law- During the trial, the defendants did not deny that themselves in front of court, which is worrying,” she said. plan aims to allow issuance of work permits to those makers who received the jail terms. The court also sen- they entered the Assembly building after a noisy But several other convicts decided to surrender vol- on family visas who reach 21 years of age, according tenced leading former opposition MPs Faisal Al- demonstration outside the building on Gulf Street, but untarily. One of them is MP Harbash, who wrote on his to certain conditions. Mislem, Khaled Al-Tahous, Mubarak Al-Waalan, Salem insisted that they fled a police crackdown and wanted Twitter account that he was on his way to give himself Maarafi said expats’ residency permits will be Al-Namlan and Fahd Al-Khanna to seven years in to avoid clashes with the security forces. The criminal up, saying that he is proud that he is going to jail “not renewed online through the interior ministry web- prison. All the jail terms are effective immediately. court accepted their explanations and acquitted them, as a thief or after receiving a bribe, but for performing site, and a search for an alternative to the iqama The court overturned a ruling by the criminal court a but the appeals court convicted them of several his duty as an elected MP”. Harbash’s eldest son, sticker is underway. He said this will be the qualita- couple of years ago that acquitted all the 70 defen- charges brought by the public prosecution. The ruling Abdullah, was given a similar jail term, along with a tive move the ministry is looking for. He added the dants, saying that the opposition activists did not intend is not final, as it can be challenged before the court of number of opposition youth leaders like Tareq Al- residency renewal project will enhance performance to storm the parliament building and had no bad inten- cassation, whose rulings are final. Defense lawyers said Mutairi. They were convicted of using force and vio- and ease matters for companies and encourage eco- tions. But the appeals court saw sufficient evidence to they will start filing challenges against the judgments lence against Assembly guards, entering a building with nomic movement, besides saving time and effort. condemn 67 of the defendants, acquitting two and from today. the intent to commit a crime and taking part in a gath- Maarafi also spoke about a plan that allows the dropping charges against former MP Falah Al- Security forces immediately began rounding up the ering inside the Assembly. Manpower Public Authority to issue work permits Sawwagh, who died last year. convicts, and according to unconfirmed reports, at least In addition, Barrak and another convict were to those who reach 21 years of age and hold family The storming of parliament took place on Nov 16, nine people have already been arrested. Lawyer accused of instigating police to refuse orders. Although, visas. This is for both the wife and children, provid- 2011 at the height of anti-government street demon- Mohammed Al-Humaidi, who represents seven defen- Harbash decided to surrender, it was not immediately ed the marriage is still valid. strations led by Islamists, nationalist and liberal opposi- dants other than Barrak, confirmed that police had begun known whether the three convicted lawmakers lose Continued on Page 11 tion groups to protest corruption allegations against arresting some of the defendants, who also include secu- their parliamentary immunity or not. former prime minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad lar nationalists. Lama Al-Fadala, a sister of one of the Continued on Page 11 Meredith to buy Duterte assures Time for $2.8bn Filipino Muslims in deal backed he will correct by Koch brothers ‘historical injustice’ WASHINGTON: Time Inc is selling for SULTAN KUDARAT, Philippines: $2.8 billion to media conglomerate Meredith Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte vowed Corporation, which is backed by the billion- to correct “historical injustice” in a speech to aire Koch brothers, who are known for sup- Filipino Muslim rebels yesterday as his gov- porting conservative causes. Time, which ernment seeks to reignite a stalled peace also publishes its eponymous magazine, process in the nation’s troubled south. He Fortune, and Sports Illustrated, began look- made the remarks at a mammoth gathering ing for a buyer late last year before giving hosted by the country’s main Muslim guerrilla up several months later, while welcoming THE HAGUE: A man holds up an old options. Meredith had expressed interest in Time magazine as he takes part in a group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front buying Time earlier this year then walked protest on Nov 22, 2017. — AFP (MILF), but which has also brought together SULTAN KUDARAT: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (left) speaks with MILF vice chair- away because it could not secure the neces- Christians, rival Muslim factions and tribal man Ghadzali Jaffar (center) as Chairman Al-Hajj Murad applauds yesterday. — AFP sary financing. groups from the southern region of Mindanao. Time revealed in October an aggressive assets. Meredith’s offer is for $18.50 per Since the 1970s, Muslims have been wag- plan to boost revenue that included focusing Time share, up about 10 percent from the ing a rebellion seeking autonomy or inde- of Mindanao in poverty. Duterte, who boasts correct historical injustice,” he said. Duterte less on magazine journalism and more on shares’ closing price of $16.90 on Friday. pendence in the southern areas of the mainly of having Muslim ancestry, warned that the said that during the decades when the digital activities. Time Inc was spun off from Share prices rose over the past week on Catholic Philippines that they regard as their region could see worse violence if the issue is Philippines was under Spanish and then media and entertainment giant Time Warner, speculation over the purchase. ancestral homeland. The conflict has claimed not resolved. “What is at stake here is the American colonial rule, the Christian majority which was seeking to shed its journalism Continued on Page 11 more than 120,000 lives and left large areas preservation of the Filipino republic and to Continued on Page 11 South Africa’s ‘Complicit’ named new export is word of the year Miss Universe by Dictionary.com LAS VEGAS: Beauties from across the globe con- NEW YORK: Russian election influence, the ever- verged in Las Vegas Sunday, where Miss South Africa widening sexual harassment scandal, mass shootings was crowned Miss Universe. Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters, and the opioid epidemic helped elevate the word “com- 22, edged out her rivals from Colombia and Jamaica to plicit” as Dictionary.com’s word of the year for 2017. This undated screenshot shows the word “complicit” on take the crown. Nel-Peters, a graduate in business Look-ups of the word increased nearly 300 percent the Dictionary.com website. — AP over last year as “complicit” hit just about every hot management, said her disabled half-sister has been button from politics to natural disasters, lexicographer among her great inspirations. In the pageant’s 66th Jane Solomon told AP ahead of yesterday’s formal she appeared on “CBS This Morning” and told Gayle year, nearly 100 women from around the world - announcement of the site’s pick. King, among other things: “I don’t know what it means including first-timers from Cambodia, Laos and Nepal - “This year a conversation that keeps on surfacing is to be complicit.” It was unclear at the time whether took part. The runner-up was actress Laura Gonzalez what exactly it means to be complicit,” she said. Ivanka was deflecting or whether the summa cum laude of Colombia, who was followed by second runner-up “Complicit has sprung up in conversations about those graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Davina Bennett of Jamaica.