KUWAIT CITY: Police in Kuwait have arrested seven leading stateless activists for “instigating” demonstrations and are hunting for eight more in a clampdown aimed at preventing protests, a rights official said yesterday.

Among those detained was the head of the Kuwaiti Bidoons (stateless) Committee, Ahmad Al Tameemi and his assistant Ali Al Enezi, the director of the Kuwait Society for Human Rights, Mohammad Al Humaidi, said.

Twenty-three stateless protesters including five teenagers were arrested on October 2 during a demonstration, said Humaidi.

“Today, the public attorney freed the five teenagers on $715 bail each pending trial. They are between 14 and 16 years old,” said Humaidi, adding that the youths were interrogated on charges of illegal assembly.

AFP