Kuwait’s imprisoned activists end hunger strike

KUWAIT CITY – Fourteen imprisoned activists in Kuwait have ended a hunger strike, saying they succeeded in exposing the government’s support for anti-government protests in Iran while barring them at home.

One of the activists started the hunger strike on Jan. 3, while 13 others joined him four days later on Jan. 7.

The activists are among nearly 70 defendants serving prison sentences for briefly entering the parliament building during a protest in 2011 against corruption and allegations of bribery among officials.

In a statement Thursday, the activists say their hunger strike “was a form of expression” and that their imprisonment now “is nothing but an act of revenge” for exposing corrupt officials.

They say they ended the hunger strike Wednesday evening because it “succeeded in exposing authoritarian hypocrisy.”