These were the son of the then prime minister, Sheikh Sabah, his lawyer and college pal Hamad al Wazan. The most recent crime for which Bachar had been charged in Kuwait was ‘people smuggling’. The publicity prompted action by the Kuwait authorities which had for years protected the Sheikh and targeted Bachar instead. The UN Human Rights Council has dismissed the conviction as a travesty securing Bachar’s rights and reputation outside Kuwait. He took his complaint to the World Bank under the treaty between France and Kuwait that protects business entities from abusive behaviour by the state in either country.