2nd July 2013

BAHRAIN MEDIA ROUNDUP

were acquitted, the source said.

Bahrain jails 7 Shias to 15 years over murder bid

A Bahraini court sentenced seven Shia men to 15 years in prison on Tuesday for the attempted murder of a police ofcer in August 2012, a judicial source said. An eighth Shia was sentenced to three years in prison while two others, on trial over the same case,

The group were also accused of setting a police station ablaze in the Shia village of Sitra using petrol bombs and of taking part in an "unauthorised gathering," according to the charge sheet. Bahrain, a Gulf kingdom ruled by the Sunni AlKhalifa dynasty, was rocked by Shia-dominated demonstrations in February and March 2011. Read More (VoIP), instant messaging and social media helped activists launch and nurture the uprisings that toppled long-standing rulers in Tunisia, Egyptand Libya in 2011. Bahrain, a majority Shi'ite country ruled by the Sunni al Khalifa family, has also been buffeted by political unrest since 2011, with mostly Shi'ite Bahrainis agitating for democratic reforms and a greater say in government. Read More Society, Ghurair has been able to organize1,640 jihadistsand send them to ght in Syria. Ghurair announced the good news to his followers in a June 14speechin Manama. We are happy to tell you that we have sent arms and ammunition to the mujahedeen in Syria, he said. Read More

Bahrain: Prosecution to look into officers acquittal case

Bahrains public prosecution said that it would study a court ruling clearing two ofcers of allegedly torturing medics arrested following the unrest in 2011. The public prosecution will look into the case and will study the reasons that led the court to acquit them,

Nawaf Hamza, the public prosecutor, said. We will appeal against the ruling if there are legal and objective grounds to do it, he said hours after the High Criminal Court said that the two ofcers were not guilty. The court explained its decision following an eightmonth trial by the lack of evidence implicating the two ofcers and by the contradictory statements made by the alleged victims. Read More prisoners of conscience including prominent opposition leaders and human rights activists are being held. Amnesty fears that the EU foreign policy head, Catherine Ashton, and EU foreign ministers will fail to make full use of the opportunity to address the human rights situation in Bahrain or to call publicly for the immediate release of all prisoners of conscience. The issue of human rights violations is not on the agenda of the meeting or properly addressed in EU statements. Read More A seventeen-year-old studenthas been sentencedto one year in prison for allegedly insulting Bahrains king on Twitter.Ali Faisal Alshofa was rst arrested in March this year. The teenager has been accused of posting the tweet in question using the @alkawarahnewsaccount, but he has denied any ties to the account. Read More

Bahrain to study restrictions on VoIP services

Bahrain is to study whether to restrict Internet-based telecom services, the communications minister of the restive Arab state told Reuters, although no nal decision was imminent. Internet-based communications including Voice over Internet Protocol

EU should press for prisoners releases as it meets in Bahrain, says Amnesty

Amnesty International has urged the EU to speak out about prisoners of conscience being held in Bahrain as it hold its annual EU-Gulf states meeting in Bahrain. EU and ofcials from Gulf countries are in Bahrain for the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, a meeting located just a few miles from the jail where

Bahrain Salafists Increase Involvement in Syria War

The Bahraini Salast preacher SheikhFaisal alGhurairmust be feeling great. Within four months, and with the help of MP Abdelhalim Murad from the Salast al-Asala Islamic

The cost of tweeting in Bahrain

A Bahraini teenager has been given jail time for a tweet. Sara Yasin looks at how the country has pursued users of the popular social networking site