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| Protesters cleared over storming of Kuwaiti parliament | Protesters cleared over storming of Kuwaiti parliament |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Seventy opposition activists, including nine former MPs, have been acquitted on charges relating to the storming of the Kuwaiti parliament in 2011. | |
| Hundreds entered the building after a protest demanding that then-PM Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammad al-Sabah step down. | Hundreds entered the building after a protest demanding that then-PM Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammad al-Sabah step down. |
| Demonstrators had been protesting weekly outside parliament over alleged corruption. | Demonstrators had been protesting weekly outside parliament over alleged corruption. |
| Sheikh Nasser resigned two weeks later, a new government was formed, and fresh elections were held. | Sheikh Nasser resigned two weeks later, a new government was formed, and fresh elections were held. |
| The Emir's nephew had been under pressure over allegations that 15 MPs were paid bribes to support the government. | |
| He had been in office for five years and presided over seven different governments during that period. | |
| Political freedoms | |
| "All the defendants were found not guilty" of the 16 November 2011 incident, said the ruling by judge Hisham Abdullah. | |
| According to reports at the time, the demonstrators broke open the gates to the parliament building and managed to enter the main chamber, where they sang the national anthem and then left a short time later. | |
| Kuwait's parliament is one of the few elected bodies in the Gulf. | Kuwait's parliament is one of the few elected bodies in the Gulf. |
| Kuwait did not experience the kind of mass protests that toppled former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Tunisia's Zine al-Abedine Ben Ali. | Kuwait did not experience the kind of mass protests that toppled former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Tunisia's Zine al-Abedine Ben Ali. |
| But opposition groups were angered by claims of corruption among Kuwait's leadership and perceived attempts to roll back political freedoms. | But opposition groups were angered by claims of corruption among Kuwait's leadership and perceived attempts to roll back political freedoms. |