27th September

BAHRAIN MEDIA ROUNDUP

Next hearing in Shiite activist trial on Oct 16: Bahrain
A Bahraini appeals court on Thursday set October 16 as the date for the next hearing in the trial of Shiite rights activist Nabeel Rajab, a government statement said. The court also merged Rajab's three separate cases of "incitement and illegal assembly" into one single appeal, the statement added. Rajab, 48, is serving a threeyear sentence for participating in illegal demonstrations, and repeated requests by attorneys for him to be released on bail have been rejected. Foreign human rights activists who were to be defence witnesses on Thursday were unable to attend due to visa entry requirements to Bahrain, Rajab's lawyers said, but Rajab attended the two-hour hearing. Read More

Bahraini activist Nabeel Rajabs appeal trial resumes

Leading Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajabs appeal trial to a three year sentence resumes Thursday after his lawyers challenged the trial's fairness. Rajab will remain in detention, having been refused bail. Rajab faces three criminal cases against him over his participation in peaceful

gatherings in support of human rights and democracy, which the charges note he also helped to organize. He has been in police custody since July 9, and on August 16 a lower Bahraini court sentenced him to three years forinvolvement in illegal practices, inciting gatherings and calling for unauthorized marches through social networking sites. On September 10, his request for bail was rejected. Read More the judge delayed the ruling in Rajabs case until October 16 and ordered him back to jail.

Bahrain court adjourns activist appeal to October 16

Bahrains High Criminal Court of Appeal has postponed the trial of Nabeel Rajab to October 16. The activist was sentenced to three years in prison in August on charges of inciting and participating in illegal assemblies and organising, through social

media websites among other means, unlicensed demonstrations at busy commercial areas in the capital, Manama. The prosecution charges relate to incidents that took place on January 12, February 14 and March 31. According to the charges, the specic incidents have caused riots, roadblocks, res, and destruction of public and private property. Read More

Bahraini Activist Nabeel Rajab Returned to Jail as Judge Delays Appellate Ruling
Today, a Bahraini judge refused to release Nabeel Rajab, President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), after his defense counsel presented evidence casting doubt on his conviction and three-year prison term for his part in illegal gatherings. Instead,

The refusal to release Nabeel Rajab today ts the recent pattern perfectly, observed Human Rights Firsts Brian Dooley. Week after week, were witnessing a relentless slow-motion crackdown on human rights defenders in the form of denied appeals of old sham trial verdicts as well as new political convictions. Read More in government-friendly newspapers because they appeared in Geneva to participate in the UPR. At that time, Laura Dupuy Lasserre, president of the HRC, reminded the Bahraini government that"we are all duty bound to ensure that nobody is persecuted on his return to his country for having participated in meetings of the human rights council or other bodies." Bahrain clearly didn't understand her message. Read More

Jail for Bahrain cop who killed protester

A BAHRAINI court has sentenced a policeman to seven years in prison for killing a protester during the Shi'iteled anti-government demonstrations that rocked the tiny Gulf kingdom in 2011, a lawyer says. "The policeman was sentenced to seven years in prison for the murder of Hani

Abdel Aziz," a Shi'ite protester, said the lawyer who asked to remain anonymous. However, the court "acquitted two other ofcers who were charged with the murder of two other protesters, Ali alMoumin and Issa Abdel Hasan", the lawyer added. All three victims died of wounds sustained in clashes with riot police who used bird shot to disperse the crowds. Read More

Bahrain deteriorating
Bahraini human rights activists who went to Geneva to tell the U.N. Human Rights Council (HRC) about the kingdom's ongoing government crackdown are again being targeted, this time in the wake of last week's conclusion to Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process. In May, several activists were threatened on social media and criticized

U.S., Gulf countries agree to strengthen trade ties

The United States on Thursday said it has signed a framework agreement with Saudi Arabia and other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council to explore ways to boost trade and investment with the oilrich region. The GCC also includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman,

Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Total two-way trade between the United States and the GCC totaled almost A Typical Day in $100 billion last year, with the Bahrain U.S. running about a $24 billion trade decit. A couple of years ago, poverty, corruption, dictatorship, inequality, discrimination, "This important trade and unemployment and economic investment agreement will hardship were the main help to grow and strengthen headlines covering the Arab our economic ties with the region. Today, many of these Gulf Cooperation Council, which is a key strategic U.S. struggles still exist. However, now, with a single big change: partner in the Middle East and North Africa region," U.S. hope. This hope stems from the aftermath of the Arab Trade Representative Ron Spring, which is a series of Kirk said in a statement. revolutionary protests that took place in the Middle East and Read More the al-Wefaq party. Al-Wefaq, whose religious orientation is Shiite, is the main opposition force in the country where a growing front has been asking the royal al-Khalifa family for democratic reforms since February 2011. 'Our protest is peaceful', said Hussein and Almossawi, who were invited to talk by Radical Senator Marco Perduca. 'Our movement can be compared to the nonviolent one of Gandhi. But the state has chosen since the beginning to respond with unprecedented violence' Read More

North Africa. Protests across the Arab world, generally speaking, shared very similar demands. The people protested primarily against the power balance in the Arab region where the few elites control the wealth and power of the country while the rest of the population is completely sidelined from any real involvement in the political decision-making mechanism. The people also demanded greater freedoms and an end to prolonged years of unelected autocrats and dictators. Read More

Bahrain: Opposition members 'inspired by Gandhi'

Bahrain's opposition members who are in Rome today for a meeting with the Italian Senate's human rights commission said they are inspired by Gandhi, the late leader of the Indian independence movement. 'In Bahrain we have learnt very well the lesson of Mahatma Gandhi', said Jasim Hussein, a former MP in Bahrain who is visiting with Hadi Almossawi, also a member of