Bahrain : Human rights groups call for release of Bahraini activist

A girl holds a poster calling for the release of Nabeel Rajab in Bahrain. Photograph : Ammar Photography/Demotix/Corbis

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Human rights groups have called for the immediate release of a leading Bahraini activist jailed for participating in "illegal" demonstrations and organising them through social networking sites.

Nabeel Rajab, president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, was jailed for three years in August. Both the UK Foreign Office and US state department expressed concern about the case but he remains in prison.

Human rights organisations are stepping up pressure to try to get him freed.
"Nabeel Rajab must be the world’s first Twissident, locked up for criticising his repressive government on Twitter," said Clive Stafford Smith, director of the legal charity Reprieve.

He added : "I know him to be an honest and decent man, who travelled far and wide to help the families whose relatives had been locked up in Guantánamo. He’s not a lawyer, and he’s the furthest thing imaginable from an extremist."

Defence lawyers told Human Rights Watch that Rajab, who is appealing against his sentence, was convicted before he was able to see his lawyers. "Because the authorities have presented no evidence that he advocated or participated in violence, his conviction is a violation of his right to freedom of peaceful assembly," the New-York-based human rights group said.

"The criminal court verdict cites no evidence – not even an allegation – that Nabeel Rajab participated in or advocated violent protests," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and north Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "He has the basic right to peaceful assembly and shouldn’t be sent to prison for that."

Bahraini prosecutors charged Rajab under article 178 of the penal code, which prohibits unauthorised gatherings of five or more people in a public place with the "purpose of committing crimes" or "undermining public security, even if intended to achieve legitimate purpose".

The FCO expressed concern about the length of Rajab’s sentence for charges "relating to comments made on social networking sites and for incitement of illegal rallies". It added : "We urge the Bahraini government to act proportionately in all cases. The right of individuals to peaceful protest and freedom of expression is a fundamental part of any modern democracy and must be respected."
(Richard Norton-Taylor - The guardian, Thursday 8 November 2012)