6th May 2012

BAHRAIN MEDIA ROUNDUP

Bahrain rights activist held over tweets: lawyer
Bahraini rights activist Nabeel Rajab, a leader of protests against the authorities in the Gulf kingdom, is to be detained for one week for "insulting a statutory body," his lawyer told AFP on Sunday. "The representative of the public prosecutor has ordered his detention for seven days for insulting a statutory body via Twitter," Mohamed al-Jishi said, referring to what activists said were tweets criticising the interior ministry. Jishi said Rajab denied the charge, saying it "aims at hindering my rights work and my right of expression."

Bahrain arrests rights Rajab, who heads the nongovernmental Bahrain Centre activist Nabeel Rajab for Human Rights (BCHR), was arrested at the airport Bahrain has arrested a late on Saturday, the centre prominent human rights said. activist and critic of the country's ruling family, the Read More Interior Ministry and an activist said on Sunday, as the Reprinted here: authorities escalated a Bahrain rights activist held over crackdown on pro-democracy tweets - lawyer | The Australian protesters.
Bahrain arrests prominent rights activist Gulf Times Qatars top-selling English daily newspaper - Gulf/ Arab World suxe.com/2012/05/06/bahrainarrests-prominent-rights-activistworld-news/

Human Rights (BCHR), on return from Beirut on Saturday evening, Sayed Yousif Almuhafda, a member of the BCHR told Reuters. Read More Reprinted here:
UPDATE 3-Bahrain arrests rights activist Nabeel Rajab chicagotribune.com Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan - Bahrain arrests human rights activist Bahrain arrests rights activist Nabeel Rajab - chicagotribune.com Pictures and Galleries - AlertNet UPDATE 2-Bahrain arrests rights activist Nabeel Rajab chicagotribune.com Bahrain human rights activist arrested as crackdown escalates | World news | The Guardian www.independent.co.uk/news/ world/middle-east/bahraini-policeseize-leading-rights-activist-aftertrip-abroad-7718702.html NewsWires : euronews : the latest international news as video on demand

Bahrain arrests human rights leader

Bahrains most influential human rights activist has been arrested, as the government cracks down on the civil disobedience campaign he has played a leading role in organising.

The arrest comes amid violence in villages, where youths from the majority Shia Muslim population are demanding more democratic concessions from the minority Sunni Muslim-led government. The police said a bomb injured four security personnel on Saturday. These incidents come as the government introduced modest parliamentary reforms. Read More His trial is expected to begin on Sunday. "Nabeel Rajab arrested by order of public prosecution. All legal procedures are being taken," the interior ministry said on its Twitter account. Mr Rajab was returning from Lebanon where he met the representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, according to activist Mohammed alMaskati, who travelled with him. Read More

Bahrain, which is ruled by a Sunni Muslim monarchy and hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet, has been in turmoil since activists mainly from the majority Shi'ite community began protests in February 2011 after successful revolts in Egypt and Tunisia. Police arrested Nabeel Rajab, head of the Bahrain Centre for

Bahrain arrests human rights activist Nabeel Rajab

A prominent human rights activist, arrested by Bahraini authorities at the weekend, is due to appear in court on Sunday, according to the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. Nabeel Rajab, who was arrested at Manama airport

after attending a human rights seminar in Beirut, faces two charges in connection with organising and participating illegal protests in the Gulf state. Rajabs trial is due to begin its first hearing Sunday 6th May, 2012. The charges leveled against him are: participating in illegal assembly and calling others to join, the organisation said in a statement on its website. Read More Human Rights, was arrested late Saturday when he arrived at the airport, according to a tweet from Mohammed al-Maskati, a fellow human rights activist. The Interior Ministry said in a posting on its website that Rajab was "detained under suspicion of committing several punishable crimes," while the Information Affairs Authority said he is facing charges of "inciting illegal activities and defamation." Read More

Bahrain arrests prominent rights activist

Mr Rajab, who heads the non-governmental Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), was arrested at the airport late on Saturday over charges of "participating in illegal assembly and calling others to join," the centre said in a statement.

Bahraini human rights activist arrested

A prominent Bahraini human rights activist has been arrested upon his return to the Persian Gulf kingdom from Lebanon, the government and an activist group said Sunday. Nabeel Rajab, director of the Gulf Center for Human Rights and president of the Bahrain Center for

Tunisia Live Learns About Arrest of Bahraini Nabeel Rajab With Sadness
It is with great concern that Tunisia Live has learned about the arrest of Bahraini Human Rights activist and President of the Gulf Center for Human Rights Nabeel Rajab.

Sayed Yousif Almuhafda, a member of the Gulf Center for Human Rights told Reuters thatRajab was arrested the night of May 5th as he returned to Manama from a ight from Beirut. The Government of Bahrain is charging him with organizing and taking part in an illegal demonstration and march. Read More

Other articles on Nabeel Rajab arrest:

Bahraini Regime Arrests Rights Activist Nabeel Rajab Police arrested Nabeel Rajab, head of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), when he returned from Beirut | 7 Days Dubai

Prominent Bahrain rights activist arrested Index condemns the arrest of prominent rights activist Nabeel Rajab | UNCUT Leading human rights activist arrested in Bahrain - International Scotsman.com

Bahrain: Blast injures 4 policemen

Bahraini ofcials say four policemen have been injured in a blast in the violencewracked Gulf kingdom. A series of small-scale explosions have taken place in Bahrain in the past month targeting security forces, suggesting an escalation in the clashes that have gripped the island nation for nearly 15 months.

Radio Times poll provokes online battle for Baftas

This year's Bafta award for the best current affairs television programme, to be awarded later this month, has provoked an international struggle to undermine the content of at

least one of the four powerful documentaries on the shortlist a lm about the uprising inBahrain last spring. A fortnight ago the Radio Times magazine launched an online poll to allow readers to vote for their favourite Bafta nominees. Read More government transforming it into an unlikely political arena, prompting more than 1.38 million votes to be cast. The poll gives visitors to the site an opportunity to pick their favourite lm from one of four contenders in the Bafta TV Awards' current affairs category: the Al Jazeera lm Bahrain: Shouting in the Dark, Channel 4s Sri Lankas Killing Fields and two BBC1 Panorama programmes.But it has quickly become about far more than a television award. Read More police allegedly used live rounds against protestors. The FIA announced on the 21st February 2011 that they had postponed the Grand Prix The Bahrain International Circuit today announced that the Kingdom of Bahrain would withdraw from hosting this years F1 grand prix race so that the country can focus on its process of national dialogue, said a statement after several protestors were killed and hundreds were injured. Read More

More than 50 people have died in the unrest between the forces of the ruling Sunni monarchy and the country's majority Shiites, which seek a greater voice in the nation's governmental affairs. Read More Reprinted here:
Bahrain arrests prominent rights activist; 4 police injured in blast The Washington Post THE DAILY STAR :: News :: Middle East :: 4 police wounded in Bahrain blast: ministry Bahrain says home-made bomb wounds four policemen - Chicago Tribune UPDATE 1-Bahrain says homemade bomb wounds four policemen - Chicago Tribune

Al Jazeera Bahrain lm receives surge of support as Radio Times Bafta poll passes 1.3 million votes
A RadioTimes.com poll asking users to vote for the best Bafta-nominated current affairs lm has itself become a news story, with prodemocracy campaigners and supporters of the Bahrain

media, or possibly in the corridors of power also.

Is Bahrain the oddball of the Arab Spring?

Of all the Arab uprisings that have seen citizens challenge or change their government, and forced foreign governments to navigate the delicate path of possible intervention into a sovereign states affairs, the situation in Bahrain has always struck me as the most complex. That is probably why it is not discussed very much in global

The facts in Bahrain are relatively clear. A majority of citizens feels it is not treated equally by the minority that rules the kingdom, where power is exercised mostly by the royal family and various security and military services. The ruling minority makes some concessions to the majority, but not enough to quieten things down. Read More the frequency of confessionbased convictions, according to local paper Gulf Daily News. Among the other police reforms to be introduced include a crime academy to train officers and 500 additional community officers, which will be deployed by the end of this year. Read More

Why F1 was wrong to go to Bahrain

Last year, during the so-called Arab Spring in which revolution spread across Northern Africa and the Persian Gulf, millions took to the streets to protest against their governments, including in Bahrain. Protests took place in the capital Manama and turned violent when

Revamp planned for Bahrain police - report

Bahrains police force will undergo a major revamp in order to prevent future abuses, it was reported. Among the changes that will be implemented in the Gulf state include the construction of a state-of-the-art forensic laboratory in order to reduce

Religious figures need training, lawmaker says

Religious figures need to have proper licences to be able to deliver their sermons and speeches, a lawmaker has said.

"The figures need to successfully undergo training sessions before they are given the licence that allows them to address the people," MP Hassan Bukhammas said. Islam and democracy, and civilisational dialogues among the topics that should be included in the mandatory training sessions, the lawmaker said. Read more