BAHRAIN MEDIA ROUNDUP

9th October 2014

Bahrain activist to
face trial over tweets
Leading rights activist
Nabeel Rajab is to remain
in custody and go on trial
from October 19 on charges
of posting tweets deemed
insulting to authorities,
prosecutors said Thursday.
A general prosecutor,
Hussein al-Buali, said
Rajab was charged with
"publicly insulting
government institutions,"
after the defence and
interior ministries lodged
complaints over his
comments on Twitter.
Shiite Rajab, who heads the
Bahrain Centre for Human
Rights, was released in
May after serving two years
in jail for participating in
unauthorised protests.
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Bahrain activist to
stand trial on
defamation charge
Pro-democracy campaigner
Nabeel Rajab, one of the
highest prole activists in
the Arab world, is to go on
trial in Bahrain accused of
insulting the Interior and
Defence Ministries, his
supporters said on
Thursday.
While the Public
Prosecution did not name
Rajab on a statement
carried on the ofcial news
agency announcing a trial
on Oct. 19, the Interior
Ministry identied him when
he was arrested on Oct. 2.
Rajab took a leading role in
the 2011 mass Shi'ite-led
demonstrations demanding
reforms in the Sunni-ruled
Gulf Arab kingdom that
were inspired by other pro-
democracy uprisings of the
Arab Spring.
If convicted, Rajab, founder
of the Bahrain Centre for
Human Rights, could nd
himself back in prison just
months after completing a
two years sentence in May
for organising and
participating in illegal
protests.
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Bahrain Human
Rights Activist
Charged
A top Bahraini human rights
activist was formally
charged on Thursday with
insulting the ministries of
defense and interior.
Nabeel Rajab, who heads
the Bahrain Center for
Human Rights, was
detained Oct. 1 over his
tweets alleging that
Bahrain's security
institutions were incubators
for extremist ideology. His
lawyer, Jalila al-Sayed, said
Rajab was also accused of
"intimidating" security
forces.
A court date was set for
Oct. 19. Al-Sayed said the
charges carry a possible
prison sentence of up to
three years. Rajab insists
he was practicing his right
to free speech.
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Bahraini activist
faces trial over
tweets
Bahrains prominent rights
activist, Nabeel Rajab, is to
remain in custody and go
on trial for posting tweets
that Manama has described
as insulting to the
authorities in the Persian
Gulf monarchy.
Public Prosecution Attorney
General Hussein al-Buali
said on Thursday that Rajab
is charged with publicly
insulting government
institutions, after
complaints by the defense
and interior ministries over
his comments on Twitter.
Rajab, who heads the
Bahrain Center for Human
Rights, was freed in May
after completing a two-year
jail term for organizing and
participating in anti-regime
protests.
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Bahrain: Nabeel
Rajab to face trial for
expressing opinion
On 1 October, Rajab,
president of the 2012 Index
Freedom of Expression
Award winner Bahrain
Centre for Human Rights
(BCHR) and director of the
Gulf Centre for Human
Right (GCHR), was
summoned by the cyber
crimes unit of the Criminal
Investigation Directorate.
He is alleged to have
denigrated government
institutions on Twitter,
according to the Ministry of
Interior. Rajab was released
in May after two years in
prison on charges including
making offensive tweets
and taking part in illegal
protests.
The arrest came shortly
after Rajabs return to
Bahrain following an
international trip to raise
awareness of human rights
violations in his country. He
was calling for the release
of human rights activists
and father and daughter
Maryam and Abdulhadi Al-
Khawaja.
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Bahrain Joins US Air
Strikes, but Still
Tortures Americans
and Silences ISIS
Critics
He was ordered to stand
on one leg for four hours.
He says he was beaten
repeatedly, as threats were
made to rape his mother
and sisters. This sounds
like the actions of ISIS, the
Al Qaeda offshoot that has
brutally taken control of
large parts of Iraq and
Syria. But it is actually a
description of what the
Bahrain government, an ally
in the coalition against the
ISIS, has done to an
American
citizen and thousands of its
own citizens.
Bahrain and four other Arab
countries have joined the
coalition against the militant
group, which is killing
Muslims and minorities and
spreading horror, in order to
grab land for its self-
declared caliphate. It goes
without saying that Bahrain
didn't even pretend to hold
a parliamentary session to
approve the decision to go
to war. Bahrain's
contribution to the coalition
has also drawn laughs on
American comedian Jon
Stewart's The Daily Show:
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GV Face: Alaa Abd El
Fattah and Maryam Al
Khawajah on Hunger
Strikes, Jail-time, and
Activism in Egypt
and Bahrain
Up until a few weeks
ago, Maryam Al Khawajah
and Alaa Abd El Fattah
were on hunger strike and
in jail. Hashtags demanding
their release from prison in
Bahrain and Egypt were
trending on Twitter.
These prominent activists
join us on this episode of
GV Face from the freedom
of their homes, but their
struggle is far from over.
Maryam is currently in
Copenhagen, unable to see
her father, a leading
Bahrain activist who has
been behind bars and on
hunger strike twice since
2011.
In Egypt, Alaa was released
on bail shortly after he
ended his 40 days hunger
strike in jail a few weeks
ago. He is currently
awaiting a re-trial and is
under a travel ban. His 20-
year-old younger sister is
on her 47th day of hunger
strike behind bars.
Read More