BAHRAIN MEDIA ROUNDUP

20th October 2014

In Bahrain, human
rights defenders are
under attack but we
wont be deterred
On Tuesday my sister,
Zainab Al-Khawaja, who is
eight months pregnant, was
arrested again, after only
recently serving one year in
prison. She was attending a
court hearing on charges of
destroying government
property after tearing a
picture of Bahrains king
during a protest in 2012.
In court, she took out a
picture of the king, and tore
it up, declaring: I am the
daughter of a proud and
free man. My mother
brought me into this world
free, and I will give birth to a
free baby boy even if it is
inside our prisons. It is my
right, and my responsibility
as a free person, to protest
against oppression and
oppressors.
She was detained on the
spot. A new case was
immediately initiated at the
upper criminal court, which
means she faces the
possibility of a maximum
sentence for publicly
insulting the king; seven
years and a 10,000
Bahraini dinar
(approximately 16,500)
ne.
Read More
Is the United States
Government Finally
Losing Patience With
Bahrain?
The U.S. State Department
today reacted to a decision
by a Bahraini judge not to
release activist Nabeel
Rajab from custody and to
adjourn his case until
October 29. Deputy
Spokesperson Marie Harf
said the U.S. government
did
Last week the State
Department publicly called
for the charges against
Rajab to be dropped for the
rst time. Rajab, one of the
region's most prominent
human rights defenders and
president of the Bahrain
Center for Human Rights,
was arrested earlier this
month after tweeting about
Bahrain security forces
being incubators for the
ideology of ISIS.
The U.S. government's call
indicates a shift in position;
it has been reluctant to
publicly call for similarly
trumped-up charges against
Rajab to be dropped in the
past. Rajab spent two years
in prison from mid-2012 to
mid-2014 for previous
tweets. The State
Department's new call --
echoed on Twitter by U.S.
Ambassador to the United
Nations Samantha Power --
is a signicant change.
Read More
Bahrain: Rights
activist jailed over
tweet is denied bail
Jailed Bahraini human
rights defender Nabeel
Rajab has been denied bail
and his hearing has been
adjourned until 29
November. The decision
came on 19 October, the
opening day of his
trial. Rajab, a well-known
activist who has played a
prominent part in Bahrains
pro-democracy movement,
is facing charges of
insulting government
institutions through the
following tweet:
According to his Twitter
account, which has been
run by an associate since
Rajabs arrest on 1 October,
Sundays court session was
monitored by
representatives from at
least nine embassies,
includingthe US, UK and
France. Family members
were denied entry to the
courtroom.
Read More
Five deny Bahrain F1
Grand Prix bomb plot
charges
Five men accused of taking
part in rigging a car with a
homemade explosive
outside Bahrains Criminal
Investigation Directorate
(CID) headquarters during
this year's Formula One
race have pleaded not
guilty.
Three of the ve who
appeared in court were
charged with rigging a
maroon coloured Kia car
with the explosive and
leaving it near the CID
headquarters in Adiya on
April 6 this year, according
to Gulf Daily News.
The other two were
accused of aiding and
abetting them.
Read More