MANAMA, Bahrain: Bahrain says a civil court has sentenced an online activist to six months in prison on charges of insulting the Gulf nation’s king in Twitter posts.

The activist, whose name was not released, was among four people arrested last month for allegedly defaming Bahrain’s monarch in cases that mirror other social media crackdowns by Gulf Arab rulers.

Such prosecutions have brought strong criticism from media freedom groups.

The official Bahrain News Agency says the court Thursday also ordered the activist’s laptop and mobile phone confiscated.

Bahrain has been hit by unrest for nearly 21 months as the island’s Shiite Muslim majority seeks a greater political voice in the Sunni-ruled kingdom that hosts the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.

Court rulings on the three other Twitter activists are expected next week.