9th July 2012

BAHRAIN MEDIA ROUNDUP

Lawyer: Bahrain activist convicted of defamation
A prominent Bahraini human rights activist was found guilty and sentenced to three months in jail on Monday on charges linked to anti-government comments he made on social media, his lawyer said Monday. The ruling against Nabeel Rajab threatens to further escalate more than 16 months of unrest in the Gulf island kingdom, the home of the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet. Monday's conviction involves one of several cases against Rajab, the president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. He has already been arrested and released twice since early May. Read More Reprinted here:
Lawyer: Bahrain activist convicted of defamation - CBS News RealClearPolitics - Politics - Jul 09, 2012 - Lawyer: Bahrain activist convicted of defamation Bahraini activist found guilty, sentenced in social media case, his lawyer says Lawyer: Bahrain activist convicted of defamation Lawyer: Bahrain activist convicted of defamation - Wire World News The Sacramento Bee

Bahrain court jails protest leader over tweets - lawyer

A prominent Bahraini protest leader, Nabeel Rajab, was sentenced to three months in prison for insulting some Bahrainis in a tweet criticising the prime minister, Rajab's lawyer and the state news agency said on Monday. Rajab has been a central gure in organising protests during 16 months of unrest in the Gulf Arab state.

Majority Shi'ite Muslims have spearheaded calls for democratic reforms to limit the powers of the ruling Sunni Muslim Al Khalifa family. Read More Reprinted here:
Bahrain court jails protest leader over tweets | Kippreport.com Bahrain court jails protest leader over tweets: lawyer chicagotribune.com Bahrain court jails protest leader over tweets: lawyer - Terra USA Bahrain - Activist Jailed for Twitter Post - NYTimes.com NewsWires : euronews : the latest international news as video on demand

Bahrain jails leading Shia activist for three months

A Bahraini court on Monday handed leading Shia activist Nabil Rajab a three month jail sentence after convicting him of posting tweets deemed insulting to Sunnis, one of his lawyer said. "Nabil Rajab has been sentenced to three months in

prison," in the Muharaq case, Mohammed al-Jishi told AFP, adding that the defense would appeal the verdict. Read More Reprinted here:
Bahrain activist jailed for three months for Twitter insults - The National gulfnews : Bahrain jails leading activist for 3 months Lebanon news - NOW Lebanon Bahrain jails leading Shia activist for three months Gulf Times Qatars top-selling English daily newspaper - Gulf/Arab World

Bahrain jails prominent activist for tweet

A leading human rights activist in Bahrain has been sentenced to three months in jail after being convicted of defamation for online comments.

Fellow activists released video of masked riot police arresting Nabeel Rajab at his home on Monday after a court issued the judgment. He had suggested in a tweet that residents of an area in the capital known for its strong pro-government stance had supported the long-standing prime minister in return for unspecied nancial gain. Read More had libelled residents of the town of Muharraq on Twitter.

tweet against the prime minister.

Nabeel Rajab Bahrain Human Rights Activist Seized by Masked Riot Police over Tweet [FIRST PICTURES]
Masked Bahraini riot police has stormed the house of prominent human right activist Nabeel Rajab and arrested him after a court sentenced him to three months in prison over a

Rajab's lawyer Mohammed alJishi conrmed that Rajab would lodge an appeal against the prison sentence.

Bahrain human rights activist Nabeel Rajab imprisoned

A prominent Bahraini human rights activist has been sentenced to three months in jail over comments on social networking websites, his lawyer says.

He was reportedly taken from his home by masked police after being sentenced. The case was one of several against Mr Rajab, who has helped organise prodemocracy protests in the Gulf kingdom. Read More!

"Every day there are a thousand people insulting a thousand people, this isn't logical. Normally the charge of Nabeel Rajab was arrested insult leads to just a ne. So for last month after prosecutors me it's a surprise," Jishi said. received complaints that he Read More

Bahrain imprisons leading rights activist over pro-democracy tweet

Prominent Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab has been sentenced to three months in jail on charges linked to anti-government messages he posted on Twitter. Monday verdict against the activist relates to a tweet he

wrote in June, saying that residents of the town of Muharraq had made a recent show of support for the country's prime minister only because they were paid to do so. Rajab, who heads the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, has been a fierce critic of the states crackdown on protesters during months of unrest. Prosecutors alleged that the post slandered the residents of the island town, which is home both to Sunni and Shiite Muslims. Read More

Nabeel Rajab Sentenced to 3 months in Jail

The Lower Criminal Court today sentenced Nabeel Abdulrasool Rajab to three months in jail for insulting Muharraq people on his twitter account.

A group of people from Muharraq lodged a complaint against the defendant for tarnishing their reputation and casting doubt on their patriotism, Chief Prosecutor Nayef Yusuf Mahmoud said. Nabeel Abdulrasool Rajab appeared before the Public Prosecution accused of smearing the people of Muharraq and questioning their patriotism. AHN Read More Youssef Al-Mhafzah, an official at the Bahrain human rights center, said that the masked forces belonging to the Bahraini security broke into Rajabs home and arrested him, pointing out that more than 12 security patrol surrounded the house. Social networking sites spread photographs depicting masked men in Rajabs home. Read More regime today sentenced Nabeel Rajab to three months in prison for criticizing the Prime Minister on Twitter. There is a pattern of direct physical and judicial assault on prominent human rights defenders who speak out in the street or on Twitter, said Brian Dooley of Human Rights First. Read More ruling was made over the group's failure to provide the justice ministry with reports on its annual budget and promoting violence, it is widely believed that the Islamic Action Association was disbanded over its support for anti-government demonstrations in the country. Bahraini opposition parties, including al-Wefaq, have slammed the court's ruling, saying it violates the constitution and law, AFP reported. Read More

Bahraini HR activist Nabeel Rajab sentenced to 3 months in prison

Bahraini security forces attacked Rajab's home in the Bani Jamra district, west of the capital Manama, and arrested him on Monday shortly after the court's ruling.

Masked Men Break "Nabeel Rajab has been sentenced to three months in into Nabeel Rajabs prison," in the Muharaq case, Home Driving Him to his lawyer Mohammed al-Jishi Unknown Place said, adding that the defense would appeal the verdict. Masked men broke into the home of international human Prosecutors say his tweet rights activist and head of the insulted the predominantly Bahrain Center for Human Sunni population of the Rights Nabeel Rajab on province of Muharaq in a way Monday afternoon and took that questioned their him to an unknown location. patriotism.
Read More convention for more than four years," according to the sources.

Bahrain court disbands Shia opposition group

A Bahraini court on Monday ordered the disbanding of a Shia opposition group, the Islamic Action Association, judicial officials told AFP. The group was found guilty of "several violations" including following a "religious ideology that calls for violence" and "not holding the association's

Bahrain Jails Prominent Human Rights Defender over Prosecutors also accused the Tweet
group of having committed "violations related to its financial situation by not providing the ministry with reports on its annual budget." In a further intensification of attacks on prominent human rights defenders, the Bahrain

Bahrain's justice ministry in June filed a lawsuit to dissolve the association which joined Shia-led protests last year. Read More

Bahrain disbands opposition group Islamic Action Association

A Bahraini court has ordered the disbanding of the Shia opposition group the Islamic Action Association, accusing the party of financial irregularities. While Bahraini prosecutors claimed on Monday that the

Bahrain bids its economic reform farewell

The Bahraini government may have finally driven the last nail into the coffin of the economic and labour market reforms that the Crown Prince initiated in 2006. These reforms, whose goal was to discourage local businesses from hiring cheap expatriate labour and instead encourage them to employ Bahrainis, were unpopular with businesses from the onset. Since the declaration of a State of National Safety (i.e. State of

Emergency) on March 16, 2011, the government has made it clear that it intended to backpedal on the reforms in an attempt to secure political support from the business community. Over the past two weeks, under pressure from the merchant class the government made two important announcements: an extension of the suspension of fees levied on business owners for every foreign worker they hire and a reduction in the minimal quota for hiring local workers imposed on firms. Read More based in Bahrain, with construction partner Joanne Emerson-Taqi and project finance senior associate Angela Croker remaining. Indeed, Norton Roses website referred to corporate of counsel Adrian Woodcock, who left recently, as our senior corporate lawyer based in Bahrain. Read More

said Social Media Club Bahrain president Ali Sabkar. According to the latest figures, a total of 247,000 people used Facebook last January and 42,349 were on Twitter in September last year. Mr Sabkar said the growing numbers were among 43 million Arab Facebook users and 1.3m Twitter accounts. Read More stressed that Bahrain wouldnt forget his supporting stances reflecting the backing of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. Shaikh Rashid hailed strong relations bonding the leaderships of both kingdoms and said they were witnessing continuous development in the era of King Abdullah and HM King Hamad; and highlighted their care for their citizens. Read More Lieutenant General Sheikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa led the discussions. The ministers also discussed the developments relating to the discovery of terror hideouts and explosives in Bahrain. They underlined the importance of cooperation in fighting crimes and terrorism. Read More

Bahrain Sees Surge in Social Networking

More than 120,000 people in Bahrain have joined social media networks since last year, it has been revealed. There are 340,000 active Facebook users and more than 60,000 people on Twitter,

Saudi backs Bahrains fight against terror

Saudi Arabia will back Bahrains fight against terror and other illegal activities, said Saudi Interior Minister Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in Jeddah yesterday. Bahrains Interior Minister Lieutenant-General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa met his counterpart in a meeting last night, where he

Bahrain humbug
Norton Rose claims its Middle East team is a regional one in which no lawyers have formal bases. It is a hard line to believe, but this is how it has responded to the resignation of two of its lawyers in Bahrain. The resignations leave the UK firm with just two lawyers

Bahraini defender Mohamed Adnan quits A-League champion Brisbane Roar, plans return to Gulf
Bahraini defender Sayed Mohamed Adnan is leaving the A-League champion Brisbane Roar and is planning a return to the Gulf.

The 29-year-old Adnan did not return to Australia after an off- Saudi Arabia, Bahrain season break and the Roar hold security talks confirmed Monday that he'd opted to remain in the Gulf Saudi Arabia and Bahrain region for family reasons. have held talks on security, it was announced Monday. Adnan joined Brisbane on a one-year deal last August Saudi Interior Minister Prince after leavingBahrain to avoid Ahmad bin Abdulaziz and his persecution for his alleged visiting Bahraini counterpart involvement in antigovernment protests. Read More

international forums on human rights. Leaked documents show that Bahrain is attempting to gain a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Advisory Council. The bid is being backed by Pakistan and human rights organisations within Bahrain itself. Analysts say the reasoning behind this bid is to clean up Bahrains image on human rights in an international forum. Read More

Bahrain eyes seat on UN human rights committee

Its been slammed for marginalizing the majority Shia population, for torturing and mistreating political prisoners, and for harassing human rights defenders. Yet despite all this, Bahrain still wants to contribute to