23 Mar 2017
Wednesday.
Former AFP
photographer released in
Bahrain, agency says
Bahraini authorities
released a former Agence
France-Presse photographer
on Thursday after holding
him for more than 24 hours
because of his work for AFP,
the French news agency
reported.
Mohammed Al-Shaikh,
a prize-winning local
photojournalist who
workedfor AFP in Bahrain
for several years, was
arrested at Manama airport
late on Tuesday, AFP and
the UK-based Bahrain
Press Association - a media
rights group - said late on
Bahrain sentences three
to death for terrorism,
bomb attacks
A Bahraini court sentenced
three Shiite Muslim men
to death on Thursday
after they were convicted
on charges of terrorism
and involvement in 2014
bomb attacks that injured a
number of police officers.
The High Criminal Court
also sentenced 14 other
people linked to the same
case to prison terms
ranging from 10 years to
life in jail, state news agency
BNA reported, quoting a
state prosecution statement.
At least were sentenced in
absentia, the statement said.
into custody at Bahrain
The authorities did not
immediately respond
to a Reuters request for
comment, nor responded
to AFP requests for an
explanation of the incident.
The photographer was
returning from a holiday
abroad when he was
detained. His family said he
had been released and did
not face any charges, AFP
reported on Thursday.
Al-Shaikh won the 2014
Bayeux-Calvados prize for
his coverage of an uprising
in the island monarchy in
2011, which was put down
by the authorities with help
from several other Gulf
Arab states.
read more
The rulings come amid
increased tensions in the
Western-allied kingdom.
Authorities have stepped up
a crackdown on dissent by
arresting activists, banning
the main Shiite opposition
al-Wefaq group and taking
steps to dissolve a secular
association earlier this
month.
The statement said the
suspects were accused
of forming a dangerous
terrorist cell that carried
out the manufacture
of explosives and local
weapons which they used
against security forces in
the northern province.
read more
French news agency says
former staffer released in
Bahrain
Agence France-Presse says
a former photographer for
the French news agency has
been released in Bahrain
after being held for more
than 24 hours.
The news agency said on
Thursday that photographer
Mohammed al-Shaikh is
not facing charges, but
that he was being held for
his work for the AFP. The
agency says the government
declined to renew his press
credentials in August.
Al-Shaikh was taken
renew his press credentials
Bahrain sentences 3 to
death on terror charges
A Bahrain court sentenced
three people to death and
14 others to lengthy prison
terms on charges they
established a terrorist cell
with the intent of killing
policemen, al-Wasat, an
independent Bahraini news
website, reported Thursday.
Also Thursday, Agence
France-Presse reported
that a former photographer
for the news agency was
released in Bahrain after
being held for more than 24
hours.
AFP said Mohammed
International Airport on
Wednesday, following a trip
abroad.
Bahraini officials did not
immediately respond
to an Associated Press
request for comment. The
photographers relatives
could not immediately be
reached.
The arrest comes amid a
renewed crackdown that
over the past year has
seen Bahraini activists
imprisoned or exiled and
the countrys largest Shiite
opposition group dissolved.
read more
al-Shaikh is not facing
charges, but that he was
being held for his work for
the news agency. It says the
government declined to
in August. Al-Shaikh
was taken into custody
at Bahrain International
Airport on Wednesday,
following a trip abroad.
Bahraini officials did not
immediately respond
to an Associated Press
request for comment. The
photographers relatives
could not immediately be
reached.
read more