Two human rights organizations: Bahraini lawyers being sued for tweets

Human Rights Watch and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy called on the Bahraini authorities to stop prosecuting defense agents for exercising their right to freedom of expression.

The two organizations urged the Manama authorities not to challenge the appeal submitted by lawyer Abdullah Al-Shamlawi to revoke his conviction and the sentence issued against him with 8 months imprisonment for his tweets.

Al-Shamlawi defended prominent opposition figures, including the imprisoned Sheikh Ali Salman, leader of Al-Wefaq, the largest political opposition association in Bahrain.

The Supreme Court of Appeal in Bahrain is supposed to issue its ruling on Al-Shamlawi's appeal on September 14, 2020.

Syed Ahmed Al-Wadaei, Director of the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, said that the trial of Al-Shamlawi is "the latest step in the judicial harassment campaign against lawyers and human rights defenders."

"The Bahraini authorities should stop using the overly broad provisions in the penal code to punish individuals simply for exercising their right to freedom of expression," he added.

The authorities also accused the prominent human rights lawyer Abdullah Hashem of spreading “false news” against the background of 8 tweets he wrote between May 2017 and April 2019, in which he shed light on government corruption and other social and political issues in Bahrain.

Hashem expects the final verdict in his case on the 29th of this month.

Other prominent social figures, including human rights activist Nabeel Rajab and opposition leader Ibrahim Al-Sharif, have faced similar judicial harassment for their activity on social media in recent years, which "indicates a concerted effort to punish dissent on the Internet," according to the two organizations.

"The government should not retaliate against lawyers who defend dissidents or offended defendants. Bahrain should stop using broad legal provisions to harass and prosecute lawyers who defend opposition and human rights activists," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.