BAHRAIN MEDIA ROUNDUP

27th October 2014

Amnesty urges
Bahrain to free
activist held over
tweets
Amnesty International on
Monday called on Bahrain
to release prominent rights
activist Nabeel Rajab, on
trial over remarks posted on
Twitter deemed insulting to
a public institution.
The London-based human
rights watchdog said a
verdict in Rajab's trial was
expected on Wednesday,
insisting that any conviction
would be a "terrible
injustice".
"It would only be further
proof that respect for the
right to freedom of
expression in Bahrain is
under attack," said
Amnesty's Hassiba Hadj
Sahraoui.
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Right groups urge
Bahrain to release
Nabeel Rajab
Human rights groups are
urging Bahrain to drop all
criminal charges against
prominent human rights
activists Nabeel Rajab and
Zainab al-Khawaja and
release them as the
charges violate their right to
free expression.
Human Rights Watch
(HRW) and the Gulf Center
for Human Rights issued
their statements on Sunday
also urging the Gulf
kingdom to revoke all laws
that violate freedom of
speech, including those that
criminalize any criticism of
the monarch or state
institutions.
Nabeel Rajab is facing a
potential three-year jail
sentence and is due in
court on October 29 on
charges that he has
offended national
institutions. Rajab is the
president of the Bahrain
Center for Human Rights as
well as a member of the
HRW advisory committee.
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Bahrain: Release
activist facing three
years in jail for
insulting tweets
Bahrains authorities must
immediately release Nabeel
Rajab, a prominent human
rights activist who has been
detained over tweets he
posted that were deemed
insulting to the Ministries of
Interior and Defence said
Amnesty International,
ahead of a verdict in his
case on Wednesday.
Convicting Nabeel Rajab
would be a terrible injustice.
It would only be further
proof that respect for the
right to freedom of
expression in Bahrain is
under attack, said Hassiba
Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy
Director of Amnesty
Internationals Middle East
and North Africa
Programme.
Prosecuting anyone merely
for peacefully expressing
their political views is a
clear form of repression and
a brazen violation of their
rights. Nabeel Rajab is a
prisoner of conscience, he
must be released
immediately and the
charges against him must
be dropped.
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