BAHRAIN MEDIA ROUNDUP

7th August 2014

Leaked Files: German
Spy Company Helped
Bahrain Hack Arab
Spring Protesters
A notorious surveillance
technology company that
helps governments around
the world spy on their
citizens sold software to
Bahrain during that
countrys brutal response to
the Arab Spring movement,
according to leaked internal
documents posted this
week on the internet.
The documents show that
FinFisher, a German
surveillance company,
helped Bahrain install
spyware on 77
computers, including those
belonging to human rights
lawyers and a now-jailed
opposition leader, between
2010 and 2012a period
that includes Bahrains
crackdown on pro-
democracy protesters.
FinFishers software gives
remote spies total access to
compromised computers.
Some of the computers that
were spied on appear to
have been located in the
United States and United
Kingdom, according to a
report from Bahrain Watch.
Read More
Gamma International:
Leaked Data
'Confirms UK
Spyware Export to
Bahrain'
Leaked documents from the
servers of a UK-based
surveillance technology
company have allegedly
brought new evidence that
it illegally exported a
malicious spyware to
Bahrain to target lawyers,
human rights activists and
politicians.
The fresh data show that
Gamma International's
FinFisher surveillance
technology was installed on
77 computers in a period
that stretches between
2010 and 2012, during
Bahrain's bloody crackdown
on pro-democracy
protesters.
It also apparently
contradicts earlier claims by
Gamma that it does not do
business with Bahrain and
"added to the growing body
of evidence suggesting that
Gamma may have have
violated UK export laws on
surveillance technology"
according to Bahrain
Watch monitoring group.
Read More
Top spyware
company hacked,
government client list
released
An estimated 40G of les
from one of the world's top
surveillance & monitoring
technology manufacturers
was posted on the Internet
after being hacked earlier
this week.
Gamma Group
International, creator of
FinFisher spyware, has
ofces in Europe, Asia, the
Middle East and Africa.
According to the companies
website, the company offers
products and services for
"advanced technical
surveillance, monitoring
solutions and advanced
government training as well
as international consultancy
to National and State
Intelligence Departments
and Law Enforcement
Agencies."
FinFisher, which is sold
exclusively to government
agencies, reportedly offers
solutions to help
government law
enforcement and
intelligence agencies
identify, locate and convict
serious criminals.
Read More
Bahrain accuses
Qatar of luring
citizens to switch
nationality - agency
Bahrain has accused
wealthier neighbour Qatar
of harming its national
security by "luring" some
nationals to take Qatari
citizenship, state news
agency BNA said, a charge
that could widen a rift
among Gulf Arab countries.
Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and
the United Arab Emirates
recalled their ambassadors
from Doha in March,
accusing Qatar of failing to
honour an accord not to
interfere in each others'
internal affairs. The
countries are all members
of the Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC), along with
Kuwait and Oman.
Efforts to patch up the rift,
largely centred around
Qatar's backing for the
Islamist Muslim
Brotherhood movement
which the other countries
deeply oppose, have so far
failed.
Read More
Bahrain: Qatar
naturalizing citizens
threatens Manama
Qatar naturalizing Bahraini
citizens could affect
Manamas national interests
and security, the ofcial
Bahrain News Agency
reported the Interior
Ministry as saying
Wednesday.
A ministry ofcial said the
decision was taken by
Qatar to grant citizenship
to members of certain
Bahraini families after luring
them with some
advantages, the BNA
reported
Read More
Bahrain strips nine
nationals of
citizenship for
alleged Iran ties
The Bahrain government
has stripped nine people of
their citizenship, after they
were convicted on charges
including participation in an
illegal organisation and
having ties to Iran.
Defence Lawyer Reem
Khalaf said the defendants,
who were convicted on
Wednesday, received
prison terms ranging from
seven to 22 years in jail.
The move was slammed by
the al-Wefaq National
Islamic Society, the largest
Shiite political party in the
country, which described
the act as an unacceptable
violation of fundamental
human rights.
In a statement, the
organisation said that the
authoritarian and unelected
regime in Bahrain is
misusing power to retaliate
against its dissidents.
Read More
Bahrain strips 9 men
of nationality
Manama Bahrains High
Criminal Court, under a new
anti-terror law, has stripped
nine accused men of their
citizenship for taking part in
terror-related activities.
This is the rst court ruling
under the new anti-terror
law on protecting society
from terrorist activities,
Public Attorney Wael Bu
Allay said. The court has
stripped the nine accused
after convicting them of
forming and joining a
terrorist group, and training
and receiving training on
use of weapons and
explosives. The Public
Prosecution had charged
them with conspiring with
other parties working for the
Iranian Republic and
forming a terrorist cell with
the aim of subverting
Bahrains security and
stability.
The nine were among a
group of 14 people accused
of setting-up a terror group
to smuggle weapons inside
Bahrain. The High Criminal
Court sentenced them on
Wednesday to between ve
and 15 years.
Read More