Bahrain: opponent Nabil Rajab released after 4 years in prison for tweets

Text by: RFI Follow

Human rights defender Nabil Rajab, imprisoned for 4 years in Bahrain, was released on Tuesday. The activist and opponent sentenced to 7 years in prison has been arrested and brought to justice several times in recent years.

Publicity

"  Nabil has been released,  " said his lawyer, Mr. Mohammed al-Jichi, adding that his client, a major figure in the Arab Spring of 2011, has benefited from "  alternative  " measures for the three years of imprisonment he has left. to be purged.

Nabil Rajab is a figurehead of the protest movement, essentially Shiite, which has been calling for several years a real constitutional monarchy, in the country ruled by a Sunni dynasty.

The kingdom of Bahrain, a small neighboring Gulf monarchy and an ally of Saudi Arabia, is regularly criticized for the repression that falls on any form of opposition or criticism of power.

The activist, who has become a symbol of tightening security in the country, was sentenced in 2018 to five years in prison for tweets criticizing the military intervention in Yemen by Saudi Arabia and its allies, including Bahrain, and denouncing suspected cases of torture in his country.

Nabil Rajab had already spent two years behind bars, from 2016 to 2018, for "spreading false news", during interviews granted to the press, especially foreign, about the human rights situation in Bahrain.

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) welcomed his release, recalling the journey of this very active activist.

His release today is a huge relief.

Hugo Gabbero, of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)

Nicolas Falez

In a statement, the activist's family said that the latter "suffers from a severe weakening of the immune system, which makes him vulnerable" to contamination with the new coronavirus and constitutes "  a threat to his life  ".

In 2018, Nabil Rajab had been made an honorary citizen of the City of Paris, for "  his fight for human rights  ".

(With AFP )

Newsletter Receive all international news directly in your mailbox

Follow all international news by downloading the RFI application

• Bahrain
• Human rights
• Justice

On the same subject

Bahrain

Relatives of opponent Nabil Rajab denounce his continued imprisonment in Bahrain

Bahrain

Bahrain: Opponent Nabil Rajab Sentenced to Five Years in Prison for Tweets

Bahrain

Bahrain: human rights defender Nabil Rajab remains in detention