The Bahrain Forum for Human Rights (BFHR)said that sentencing Bahraini journalist Faisal Hiatt to three months in prisonwith effect by the Minor Criminal Court over a tweet he wrote on the socialnetworking site “Twitter” reflects the deterioration of press freedom in thecountry. The BFHR added that this sentence is among a series of issues whichtarget citizens and activists for exercising their right to freedom ofexpression, and urged the Bahraini authorities to release him immediately andunconditionally and remove the case from court records.
“Hiatt published earlier a letter tothe Minister of Interior criticizing the violations of security agencies as aformer prisoner of conscience. Thus, it seems that the policy of gagging thevoice of anyone who criticizes the violations of the security authorities willkeep producing sentences of political persecution, through the exploitation ofthe new legislation in order to punish journalists and conscience activists in unfairtrials”, the BFHR added.
“The Bahraini authorities haveadapted a number of laws to silence political activists, human rights defenders,people in the media field, and others affiliated with the opposition. Among themost important of these laws are the Penal Code, the Anti-Terrorism Law, the NationalityLaw, and the Law on Public Gatherings. Therefore, expression of opinions on socialmedia and public forums by criticizing the authorities and their bodies became “incitementto hatred of the regime,” demanding the establishment of a democratic system became“promotion of forceful regime change and suspension of the Constitution,” and callingfor peaceful demonstrations became “encouragement to non-compliance with thelaw.” It appears from some cases that the authorities employed some articlesfrom these laws to accuse activists of charges of criminal or terrorist naturethat are unrelated to the activities of those activists, such as listing thename of the activist in a case, in which the authorities claim that a terroristbombing or killing of a security member have occurred,” the BFHR explained.
In addition, the BFHR pointed outthat in 2015, 74 cases of prosecutions against conscience activists wererecorded in Bahrain. Human rights defenders had a big share [of theseprosecutions], since they are the target most likely at risk among the targetsof repression, according to the 2015 report of the International Federation forHuman Rights, noting that the articles of the Bahraini Penal Code that aremostly used to restrict freedom of expression are: (160), (165), (173), (214),(215), and (216). These articles are adapted in the arbitrary interpretation ofthe charges in order to be used in court.
Bahrain Forum for Human Rights
November 30, 2016
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