Index on Censorship calls for Bahrain to stop judicial harassment of Nabeel Rajab and all human rights activists in the country

By Danielle Quijada / 13 March, 2015

Bahraini human rights defender Nabeel Rajab (Photo: The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy)

Index on Censorship award winner Nabeel Rajab is set to appear in court on Sunday 15 March to find out whether his sentence over a tweet will be overturned.

In January, Rajab, the president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, was handed down a six-month suspended sentence pending a fine over the following tweet:

many #Bahrain men who joined #terrorism #ISIS came from security institutions and those institutions were the first ideological incubator

— Nabeel Rajab (@NABEELRAJAB) September 28, 2014

Bahrain’s ministry of interior and ministry of defence both alleged the tweet “denigrated government institutions”. Rajab was released on bail while appealing the verdict, the outcome of which is expected on Sunday.

Rajab, one of Bahrain’s most prominent human rights activist, has been continuously targeted by authorities in relation to his human rights campaigning work. He was released from prison last May, where he spent two years on charges which included writing offensive tweets and participating in illegal protests.

“It is very hard to estimate what could happen on Sunday,” Sayed Alwadaei, director of advocacy for The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, told Index in an email.

On Thursday, Rajab wrote to Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s foreign policy chief. Calling for further international support for himself and his fellow human rights activists, he said he was “deeply disappointed by the EU’s lack of strong action to back up its human rights commitments in its foreign policy”.

He also wrote of his latest questioning by police, in early March. He says he was accused of inciting hatred towards the regime, for, among other things “accusing the police and ministry of interior with torturing detainees” and “calling the events happening in Bahrain a revolution”.

“These accusations cannot more obviously target my freedoms of expression and association,” Rajab stated. “Moreover, they are directly related to my work as a human rights activist.”

Echoing Rajab, Alwadaei believes the response from the international community could have significant impact on Rajab’s case: “I strongly believe the moment they [Bahraini authorities] feel they have less international pressure on his case he will be sent directly to prison.”

This article was posted on 13 March 2015 at indexoncensorship.org

Tags: Bahrain | European Union | Nabeel Rajab | Twitter