Kuwait: Kuwait's criminal court on Monday extended the detention of prominent academic Obaid Al Wasmi as it opened his trial on charges of undermining the status of the Gulf state's ruler, his lawyer said.
The Kuwait University law professor's first hearing was held behind closed doors with only lawyers allowed to attend, Al Humaidi Al Subaie told AFP.
"The judge (Adel Al Huwaidi) rejected a request by the defence team to release Wasmi and set January 17 for the next hearing," Al Subaie said.
During the session, the court charged Wasmi with spreading false news abroad, participating in a public gathering with the intention of committing a crime, and undermining the status of the emir, the lawyer said.
He is also facing a charge of instigating the armed forces to disobey orders.
The academic, a well-known constitutional expert, faces a maximum five years in jail, said the lawyer, who has charged that Wasmi was beaten by police on his arrest.
Subaie said that as many as 280 Kuwaiti lawyers have volunteered to defend the academic, who has been in jail for the past three weeks.
Wasmi was arrested after giving a speech at a public gathering organised by the opposition on December 8 that was dispersed with force by the police.
Police had dragged Wasmi out of the house where the gathering was held and beat him with batons and kicked him as he lay on the ground, according to the lawyer.
International human rights groups have criticised Kuwait for using force to prevent public gatherings by the opposition.
Kuwaiti special forces used batons to disperse the gathering organised by the opposition to protest what they said was a government plot to amend the 1962 constitution in order to suppress public freedoms.
Three opposition MPs have filed to question Prime Minister Shaikh Nasser Mohammad Al Ahmad Al Sabah over the police attack.
The grilling of the prime minister is set to take take place on Tuesday. It could lead to a motion of non-cooperation.
