On Thursday afternoon, police in Bahrain arrested Nabeel Rajab, one of the country's most prominent human rights activists, and charged him with insulting the Kingdom.
In a statement, Bahrain's interior ministry accused Rajab, who is president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), of "publishing information that would harm civil peace."
Shortly after his arrest, Rajab's colleagues informed VICE News that special forces police had surrounded Rajab's home in the village of Bani Jamra sometime around 2 PM. An officer in civilian clothing handed Rajab a letter detailing his alleged crimes.
Police charged Rajab with spreading false information about torture in Bahrain's notorious Jaw Prison.
Family members filmed the final minute leading up to his arrest:
Last month, Rajab told VICE News that he expected the government to slap him with new criminal charges.
"They want to keep me as long as they can inside Bahrain, so that I can't do interviews, meet officials, or speak at the United Nations," he said.
Rajab suspected that he would, at some point in the near future, be accused of "inciting hatred against the government."
"We now expect Nabeel to be detained," Sayed Alwadaei of the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy told VICE News. "It's perfect timing for [the government to] avoid international criticism — as the West is busy with Easter."
Last week, Rajab — who Human Rights Watch Director Kenneth Roth once suggested could be the Nelson Mandela of our modern day — wrote an op-ed in which he described Jaw Prison as "the gates of hell." He said the jail is a place where the regime's political opponents are terrorised, beaten with batons, humiliated, and shot at with guns and sound grenades. In the best of days, wrote Rajab, prisoners sleep on the floor in cockroach-infested cells.
Rajab's article was accompanied by photos of recent detainees: men with deep wine-coloured bruises and thin, spidery lashes.
more
https://news.vice.com/article/bahra...champion-nabeel-rajab-for-harming-civil-peace
In a statement, Bahrain's interior ministry accused Rajab, who is president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), of "publishing information that would harm civil peace."
Shortly after his arrest, Rajab's colleagues informed VICE News that special forces police had surrounded Rajab's home in the village of Bani Jamra sometime around 2 PM. An officer in civilian clothing handed Rajab a letter detailing his alleged crimes.
Police charged Rajab with spreading false information about torture in Bahrain's notorious Jaw Prison.
Family members filmed the final minute leading up to his arrest:
Last month, Rajab told VICE News that he expected the government to slap him with new criminal charges.
"They want to keep me as long as they can inside Bahrain, so that I can't do interviews, meet officials, or speak at the United Nations," he said.
Rajab suspected that he would, at some point in the near future, be accused of "inciting hatred against the government."
"We now expect Nabeel to be detained," Sayed Alwadaei of the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy told VICE News. "It's perfect timing for [the government to] avoid international criticism — as the West is busy with Easter."
Last week, Rajab — who Human Rights Watch Director Kenneth Roth once suggested could be the Nelson Mandela of our modern day — wrote an op-ed in which he described Jaw Prison as "the gates of hell." He said the jail is a place where the regime's political opponents are terrorised, beaten with batons, humiliated, and shot at with guns and sound grenades. In the best of days, wrote Rajab, prisoners sleep on the floor in cockroach-infested cells.
Rajab's article was accompanied by photos of recent detainees: men with deep wine-coloured bruises and thin, spidery lashes.
more
https://news.vice.com/article/bahra...champion-nabeel-rajab-for-harming-civil-peace
