KUWAIT CITY (AP) — Kuwait's highest court has ordered an opposition leader and several lawmakers imprisoned for 3 ½ years over the 2011 storming of parliament during the country's Arab Spring protests.

The ruling by Kuwait's Court of Cassation on Sunday involved dozens of politicians, activists and others.

Among those sentenced was Musallam al-Barrack, an opposition leader who left prison in April 2017 after serving a two-year sentence on separate charges. Sitting and former lawmakers also were sentenced to prison.

The defendants were initially acquitted, but a shock court decision in November resurrected the case against them.

The renewal of the case came as Kuwait's ruling emir has warned the country's national unity is at stake amid regional turmoil.