Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab jailed for tweeting
Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab vows to continue fight for freedom as he receives a three month prison sentence for tweeting critical comments about the Bahraini Prime Minister
Nabeel Rajab, President of the Bahrain Human Rights Centre and Director of the Gulf Human Rights Center was found guilty and sentenced to three months in jail on 9 July on charges linked to anti-government comments he made on social media. He was sentenced for sending a Tweet about the Bahraini Prime Minister according to Front Line Defenders.
The conviction involves one of several cases against Nabeel Rajab who has already been arrested and released twice since early May. Late last month, he was fined 300 dinars (US$ 800) related to a critical Twitter post he made against the Ministry of Interiors.
In the above video showing his arrest (Source: Front Line Defenders), Nabeel Rajab explains that he was not expecting the conviction, but that the sentence is the price to pay for the fight for freedom that he and others are struggling for in Bahrain.
Nabeel Rajab was taken into custody by masked police officers hours after the verdict was issued, according to his wife, Sumaya Rajab.
“No easy road to democracy”
Nabeel Rajab has campaigned around the world to bring attention to human rights abuses in Bahrain, including the case of former head of the Bahrain Human Rights Centre and IMS partner Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja. Visiting International Media Support in fall 2011 to speak to Danish media and politicians to highlight the case Abdulhadi, Nabeel Rajab said:
“There is no easy road to democracy. I know this. But we believe that it is worthwhile fighting for the cause. We’ve seen it in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya and it must be possible in Bahrain.”
Since February 2011, thousands have protested in the streets of Bahrain and been arrested for demonstrating their wish for democratic change in the kingdom. Despite promises by the government to stop crackdowns on its people and respect the rights of its citizens, the government continues on its course to silence those critical of the regime.
