"We will not allow you"

Scores of Kuwaiti activists will soon be charged for “offending the Amir”. The activists’ crime was repeating former MP Musalam Albarrak’s landmark “We will not allow you” speech for which they could receive a maximum five year prison sentence.

Following Albarrak’s five year prison sentence in April 2013, activists stood in solidarity with the ex-MP outside his diwan and repeated his speech insisting on their right to free speech. Albarrak’s sentence is currently under appeal.

In total, 62 activists have repeated the speech. Some at the April rallies, others through videos on Youtube. Albarrak’s speech has been widely repeated both online and on the ground. Notably, Karamet Watan, the anonymous twitter account which organized last year’s record-breaking demonstrations had asked its followers to repeat parts of the speech online.

The activists include 10 former members of parliament. The list of activists include media personalities, columnists, university professors, lawyers, teachers, students among others.

On October 15, 2012 Musalam Albarrak directly addressed Kuwait’s Amir in front of thousands of demonstrators protesting unilateral electoral change saying “We will not allow you, your highness, to take Kuwait into the abyss of autocracy”.