16th May 2013

BAHRAIN MEDIA ROUNDUP

alleged insults to the Gulf nations ruler or symbols.

Bahrain demonstrator sent to jail for insult to nations flag during 2011 pro-reform rallies
A Bahrain demonstrator was sentenced to three months in prison Thursday for hanging a Bahrain ag from his truck during a 2011 rally, a defense lawyer said, in one of the rst cases based on tougher codes for

The specic charges were unclear, but prosecutors argued that draping the ag over the truck during the protest gathering was an offense under the new rules. Many people in Bahrain, however, y ags from vehicles during celebrations and other events. Flags also are common during anti-government marches. Read More society towards the king on Twitter". Activists use Twitter as a means of reporting regime actions against them. Another prominent activist Nabil Rajab who heads the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights has been in custody since last June for insulting members of the Sunni community on Twitter. The ruling monarch is Sunni. As well Rajab was charged with insulting security forces on his website. Read More violations. The court found [BNA report] the tweets to be an overuse of the freedom of expression, and a contradiction to the fundamental norms of society. Bahrain has imprisoned numerous activists in the wake of the 2011 protests and banned all protests [JURIST report] effective October 2012. In March 13 pro-democracy activists were sentenced[JURIST report] to 10 years in jail. Read More

Bahrain demonstrator jailed for flag insult

A defense lawyer in Bahrain says a demonstrator has been sentenced to three months in prison for hanging a Bahrain ag from his truck during 2011 rallies. Thursdays ruling is among the rst based on tougher penalties imposed last month for insulting the Gulf states king or national

symbols. The measures seek to quell more than two years of protests led by Bahrains majority Shiites seeking a greater political voice in the Sunni-ruled nation. Defense lawyer Hashim Saleh says 62-year-old Abdulla al-Sayegh plans to appeal the sentence and the 100 dinar ($265) ne. Al-Sayegh acknowledges he attended pro-reform rallies during the early days of the Arab Spring uprising. Read More

Tweets in Bahrain bring one year jail terms for six

In Bahrain, a court sentenced six Twitter users to a year in prison for the crime of insulting the king, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and of "misusing the right of free expression", The court held that the six wrote remarks "undermining the values and traditions of Bahrain's

Bahrain demonstrator jailed for insulting national flag

A 62-year-old Bahraini protester has been sentenced to three months in prison for hanging a national ag from his truck during a 2011 rally. The case comes after tougher penalties were introduced for insults to the Gulf nation's ruler or symbols.

Prosecutors stated that draping the ag over a vehicle during the 2011 rally was an offense under the new restrictions, Associated Press reported adding that the specic charges remained unclear. Abdulla Sayegh admitted that he attended pro-reform protests, however maintained that many Bahrainis y ags from vehicles during all kinds of gatherings, be it celebrations, antigovernment or progovernment rallies. Read More The head of the public prosecutor's ofce, Nayef Youssef, said that though freedom of opinion and expression were guaranteed in Bahrain, they should not be used in a way that contradicted the norms of society. Read More

Bahrain court jails 6 for insulting tweets

A court in Bahrain [BBC country prole] sentenced six individuals to a year in prison on Wednesday for insulting King Hamad via Twitter [ofcial website]. Since the nation's prodemocracy protests in Manama that began in February 2011, activists have used the social media site to report perceived

Twitter lands six in prison

A court has jailed six people for a year for insulting the King, Hamad bin Issa al Khalifa, in messages on Twitter.

Twitter, the social medium the emirs do not like

A Bahrain court sentenced six activists to a year in jail for insulting King Hamad bin Isa al-Halaifa in messages posted on Twitter. For the public prosecutor, they were guilty of "misuse of freedom of expression". On the same day the six activists were convicted,

Abdul Latif Abdul Aziz alSheikh, head of the Saudi religious police, strongly criticised the use of twitter by Saudis, saying that "anyone using social media sites," especially Twitter, "has lost this world and his afterlife", reecting ofcial concern that Saudis use Twitter to discuss sensitive political and other issues. Saudi Arabia is believed to have seen the world's fastest increase in the uptake ofTwitter. Read More It appears that the government is now taking action.

Bahrain court jails six for insulting king on Twitter

A Bahraini court jailed six people for a year on Wednesday for insulting King Hamad bin Issa al Khalifa in messages on the microblogging site Twitter, the ofcial news agency said. The six were accused of writing remarks

"undermining the values and traditions of Bahrain's society towards the king on Twitter," the Bahrain News Agency quoted the head of the public prosecutor's ofce, Nayef Youssef, as saying in a statement. He said freedom of opinion and expression were guaranteed by the Gulf Arab island state's constitution, law and international conventions, but should not be used in a way that contradicted the norms of society. Read More statement. They were accused of writing remarks undermining the values and traditions of Bahrains society towards the king on Twitter, according to the statement. Activists in Bahrain, scene of a Shiite-led uprising that began two years ago against the ruling Sunni monarchy, use Twitter as a platform to report what they describe as regime violations against them. Read More of Bahrains Penal Code, which criminalises offending the emir of the country [the King], the national ag or emblem. The ve - lawyer Mahdi alBasri, 25; Mahmood AbdulMajeed Abdullah Al-Jamri, 34; Hassan Abdali Issa, 33; Mohsen Abdali Issa, 26; and Ammar Makki Mohammad Al-Aali, 36 were tried in separate cases but all faced charges of insulting the King in messages posted on Twitter. Read More

Twitter users in Bahrain jailed for allegedly insulting tweets

The Bahraini government started the process of revising its penal code last month to allow ofcials to jail anyone who insults King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, according to Amnesty International.

Six people were sentenced to one year in prison on Wednesday for allegedly insulting the King on Twitter, according to Al Jazeera. The criminal court ruled that these people were "misusing the right of free expression" and their tweets were "undermining the values and traditions of Bahrain's society towards the king on Twitter." Read More

Bahrain court jails 6 tweeters

A Bahraini court on Wednesday sentenced six tweeters charged with insulting King Hamad to one year in prison, the public prosecutors ofce announced. The six were charged by the lower criminal court with misusing the right of free expression, it said in a

GCC concerned over rise in use of Twitter

Increasing use of Twitter and other social media forums by their citizens has authorities in some GCC countries worried, prompting them to mull ways to impose restrictions, media reports suggest. The countries getting nervous and thinking of tightening screws on social media users include Saudi

Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, according to several regional news websites and newspapers. Bahrain, which is facing an uprising, the UAE and Kuwait have even arrested and jailed several tweeters some for as long as 10 years. Kuwait-based newspaper Al Rai (which means opinion in Arabic) reported that the government recently decided to award a $250m contract to a foreign rm to closely monitor tweeters in the country. Read More

Bahrain must release five Twitter users jailed for allegedly insulting the King
The Bahraini authorities must immediately release ve men sentenced to a years imprisonment for allegedly insulting the King of Bahrain in messages posted on Twitter, Amnesty International has said. The men were sentenced yesterday under Article 214

Bahrain's "Blogfather" emerges from hiding

For two years, Bahrainis have been asking "Where is Ali Abdel Imam?" And now nally, they have an answer. The prominent opposition blogger suddenly emerged from hiding last week, announcing he had been granted asylum in the United Kingdom, news sources reported.

He had not been heard from since March 17, 2011, when he cryptically tweeted, "I get tired from my phone so I switched it of no need for rumors plz." The Bahraini government had just declared a state of emergency, as massive reform protests rocked the island country. Abdel Imam, who had already been arrested twice before for his work, feared the government would arrest him again in an impending crackdown. So when they came for him the following day, Abdel Imam made sure he wasn't there. He had not been heard from since--until last week. Read More The smallest Gulf crude producer needs gradual scal consolidation equal to 7.7 percent of economic output over the next six budget years to contain its government debt at 40 percent of gross domestic product, the Washingtonbased fund said in report released late yesterday. It also recommended that Bahrain pare its scal stimulus to 0.9 percentage points of non-oil GDP from 2.1 percentage points, it said. Read More

Prince Charles under fire over Bahrain deal

Human rights groups have criticised Prince Charles architectural charity for signing a 700,000 ($1.07m) deal to advise on the construction of 4,000 homes in Bahrain. The Prince of Wales' Foundation for Building Community will offer

technical and engineering expertise to the project, which could eventually be expanded across Bahrain. Activists said the partnership sent a message that the British royal family approved of the regime in Bahrain, which has been accused of continued human rights abuses as it attempts to quash prodemocracy protests. Read More end the political impasse that stalled political progress over two years since the events that occurred in Bahrain in February and March 2011, reached the impasse after the opposition said that it would not endorse the proposal to draft the agenda unless it was satised with its platform of the talks. The other participants accused the opposition of stalling the talks. Read More

Attempt to break Bahrain impasse fails

A new attempt by two political coalitions, the parliament and the government to nd a way out of Bahrains political deadlock has suffered a serious setback after proposals to move forward were rejected by the participants. The national dialogue, launched on February 10 to

IMF Says Bahrains Growing Debt May Be Unsustainable by 2018

Bahrain must urgently cut spending or risk unsustainable public debt as its scal decit widens and oil prices decline, according to the International Monetary Fund.