7th May 2012

BAHRAIN MEDIA ROUNDUP

Bahraini activist Rajab held on incitement charges
A prominent human rights activist, Nabeel Rajab, has been arrested in Bahrain on charges of inciting protests by using social networking websites. He was reportedly detained on arrival at Manama's airport on Saturday after returning from a conference in Beirut. On Sunday, a court ordered that the head of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) be remanded in custody for seven days pending investigation. Mr Rajab has helped organise many protests against the government. He is one of the most wellknown activists in the Arab world, frequently speaking to the world's media and having more than 140,000 followers on Twitter. Read More

Bahrain Detains Wellknown Rights Activist

In continued crackdowns to silence dissent, Bahraini authorities have arrested wellknown rights activist Nabeel Rajab, who have led several protests against the Sunni monarchy in the Gulf Kingdom, on his return from a trip abroad, Reports quoting the Interior Ministry and activists said on Sunday.

Rajab, who heads the nongovernmental Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), was arrested at the airport late on Saturday over charges of "participating in illegal assembly and calling others to join," the BCHR said in a statement. "Nabeel Rajab arrested by order of public prosecution. All legal procedures are being taken," The Interior Ministry said on its website. Read More

Bahrain arrests human rights leader

Bahrain has arrested a prominent human rights activist and critic of the country's ruling family, the Interior Ministry and an activist said on Sunday, as the authorities escalated a crackdown on prodemocracy protesters. Bahrain, which is ruled by a Sunni Muslim monarchy and

hosts the US Fifth Fleet, has been in turmoil since activists mainly from the majority Shia community began protests in February 2011 after successful revolts in Egypt and Tunisia. Police arrested Nabeel Rajab, head of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), on return from Beirut on Saturday evening, Sayed Yousif Almuhafda said by telephone from Manama. Read More

from Lebanon in connection with the case.

Bahrain activist to stay in custody 7 days

An opposition activist in Bahrain has been remanded in custody for seven days after being charged with posting political tweets on Twitter against the Interior Ministry. Nabeel Rajab was arrested at Bahrain International Airport on Saturday night as he returned

He also appeared in court yesterday accused of taking part in an illegal rally in Manama on the first anniversary of Bahrain's antigovernment protests. Mr Rajab allegedly incited others to participate via his mobile phone and Twitter account on February 14. Read More

Bahrain: Fidh Demands Immediate Release Of Its Deputy Secretary General Nabeel Rajab
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) said Sunday it is gravely

concerned about the arrest of its Deputy Secretary General and the continuing targeting of human rights defenders in Bahrain. On May 5th 2012, Nabeel Rajab, president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) and director of the Gulf Center for Human Rights, was arrested upon arrival at Manama airport from Lebanon and is currently detained in Al Hawra police station. Read More

Bahrain rights activist held over tweets

Bahraini rights activist Nabeel Rajab, a leader of protests against the authorities in the Gulf kingdom, is to be detained for one week for "insulting a statutory body," his lawyer told AFP on Sunday. "The representative of the public prosecutor has ordered his detention for seven days

for insulting a statutory body via Twitter," Mohamed al-Jishi said, referring to what activists said were tweets criticising the interior ministry. Jishi said Rajab denied the charge, saying it "aims at hindering my rights work and my right of expression." Rajab, who heads the nongovernmental Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), was arrested at the airport late on Saturday, the centre said. Read More

using social networking websites.

Bahraini remanded in custody for 7 days

Human rights worker Nabeel Rajab was remanded in custody for seven days on Sunday following his arrest on arrival at Bahrain International Airport. Senior District Attorney Abdulrahman Al Sayyed said that Nabeel Ahmed Abdul Rasul Rajab appeared before the Lower Criminal Court to face charges of inciting holding of illegal rallies and marches online by

A police investigation also revealed that the defendants cyber incitement proved detrimental to public security as it fuelled rioting, road blocking, arson, acts of sabotage targeting public and private properties, and the use of petrol bombs and incendiary devices. Evidence has been compiled on the defendants role in instigating online acts such as targeting policemen while on duty that has resulted in serious injuries. Read More "A police investigation also revealed that the defendant's cyber incitement proved detrimental to public security as it fuelled rioting, road blocking, arson, acts of sabotage targeting public and private properties, and the use of petrol bombs and incendiary devices," Abdul Rahman Al Sayyed, senior Prosecution Attorney, said. "Evidence has been compiled on the defendant's role in instigating online acts such as targeting on duty policemen that has resulted in serious injuries." Read More

Bahraini Human Rights Activist Nabeel Rajab Jailed

One of Bahrains most prominent human rights activists remains in jail after

being detained on Saturday. Nabeel Rajab, who heads the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, was arrested when he returned from a trip to Lebanon. Rajab is being accused of taking part in and calling for an illegal gathering and march. Rajab has been a frequent guest on Democracy Now! over the past year. Read More

Human rights activist Nabeel Rajab arrested in Bahrain (video)

Nabeel Rajab, one of the subjects interviewed in Assange's "The World Tomorrow" to be aired on Tuesday this week, has been arrested in Bahrain. Recently interviewed by Julian Assange on the upcoming episode of "The

World Tomorrow", Nabeel Rajab, a human rights activist has been arrested on his return to Beirut. According to Sayed Yousif alMuhafda, a member of the BCHR, "The police arrested him near the plane's door. They said they had an arrest warrant from the public prosecutions ofce ... he was allowed to call his family after the arrest but they could not see him." Read More been under turmoil since February 2011 following prodemocracy revolts in Egypt and Tunisia.

Activist remanded in custody for seven days

A Bahraini activist has been remanded in custody for one week as authorities investigate his case. Nabeel Ahmad Abdulrasul Rajab, who was arrested on Saturday upon his return from Lebanon, appeared the next day before the Lower Criminal Court to face charges of using social networking sites to incite illegal rallies and marches.

Bahrain arrests top human rights activist

Bahrain police officials have arrested several human rights activists following a crackdown on protests taking place across the country. Bahrain, which is ruled by a Sunni Muslim monarchy, has

Bahrain: The stories that aren't being covered

Nabeel Rajab - arrested on May 5 by Bahraini authorities - is one of Bahrain's most well-known human rights activists and president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights. Mohammed is a pseudonym for an activist. Abdulhadi

Khalaf is a professor of sociology at Lund University and Ala'a Shehabi is a political activist and commentator based in Manama. These interviews were conducted by Al Jazeera via email, skype and in person. Read More

According to a report, a member of Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), identified as Sayed Yousif Almuhafda, revealed that police had arrested Nabeel Rajab, the head of the BCHR, on his return from Beirut on Saturday. Read More walked in front, women in black chadors behind them, chanting "down with Hamad" -- Bahrain's king. The protest was intended as a rebuke to the Formula One auto race Bahrain's ruling family was about to stage in late April to show the world that all was well in the Gulf kingdom after a ruthless crackdown on dissent and more than a year of unrest. Read More

Prison Island
When the boys at the head of the column bolted, so did we. A colleague and I had been observing their nighttime march through Diraz, an older, poorer suburb of Bahrain's capital mostly populated by members of the country's Shiite majority. Teenagers and young men

learn to circumvent the new challengesBahrain shows us what the new Arab media scene looks like.

The War of the Words: Bahrain's Struggle over Local Coverage

Bahrains ongoing political crisis has profoundly transformed the countrys media landscape. Perhaps more so than in any of the other Arab uprisings, the struggle over events coverage is at the conflicts core. From the regimes rehashing of familiar tools of repression to its more innovative appropriation of new mediaas well as ways in which local journalists

Since the beginning of protests in February 2011, restrictions imposed on journalists have proven beyond any doubt that freedom of speech and a free press in Bahrain have always been a fiction. In little over a year, the crackdown on the press has managed to turn the clock back ten yearsto the 1975 State Security Law, and a government that enjoyed powers to summarily arrest and detain its citizens without trial. Read More The 50-minute documentary, entitled 'Bahrain: Shouting in the Dark', has received nearly 900,000 votes and is currently in top position to win the UKs RadioTimes.com poll for best Bafta-nominated current affairs film. Read More

The Case of Bahrain

Of all the Arab uprisings that have seen citizens challenge or change their government, and forced foreign governments to navigate the delicate path of possible intervention into a sovereign states affairs, the situation in Bahrain has always struck me as the most complex. That is probably why it is not discussed very much in the global media, and, possibly, also in the corridors of power. The facts in Bahrain are relatively clear. A majority of citizens feels it is not treated equally by the minority that

holds power in the kingdom, where power is exercised mostly by the royal family and various security and military services, and the ruling minority makes some concessions to the majority but not enough to quiet things down. The fact that the majority that feels mistreated and shortchanged is Shiite and the ruling minority is Sunni is relevant in some ways -- it makes Bahrain a proxy battle in the larger Saudi Arabian-Iranian confrontation, for example -but irrelevant in others, because in most Arab countries a minority of some sort has wielded disproportionate power over the majority of citizens. Read More Bahrain's ruling family, through its investment arm Mumtalakat Holdings, owns half of the famous British team.

Bahrain documentary prompts Twitter feud

An Al Jazeera documentary showing anti-government protests in Bahrain has become an unlikely battleground for supporters and opponents of the Gulf state's governing authorities.

absence of freedom of speech in Bahrain. The Al Jazeera documentary about Bahrains uprisings that caused a stir on Twitter, titled Bahrain: Shouting in the Dark, received nearly 900,000 votes after Foreign Minister Khalid Al Khalifa took to Twitter to urge his 80,000 followers to vote against the documentary. For a British entertainment website to become a battleground between Bahrain government loyalists and its opponents has been an unexpected and extraordinary turn of events, Tim Glanfield, acting editor for RadioTimes.com, said. Read More

Bahrain could get director on F1 board report

Bahrain, the controversial island Kingdom, could have been central to McLaren's decision to agree the terms of the next Concorde Agreement.

The Times' F1 correspondent Kevin Eason quoted a source as saying the link "pushed (McLaren's) Concorde deal over the line". In return for signing up, Bahrain reportedly received a "pledge" that last month's highly contentious grand prix would go ahead. Read More based convictions, according to local paper Gulf Daily News. Among the other police reforms to be introduced include a crime academy to train officers and 500 additional community officers, which will be deployed by the end of this year. Read More

Bahrain Government Continues Confrontation with Media

Nabeel Rajab, who has over 140,000 followers on Twitter, was arrested on charges of inciting illegal rallies and marches online by using social networking websites. A coalition of opposition groups released a joint statement calling for Rajabs release, saying, This is yet further proof and confirmation of the

Revamp planned for Bahrain police - report

Bahrains police force will undergo a major revamp in order to prevent future abuses, it was reported. Among the changes that will be implemented in the Gulf state include the construction of a state-of-the-art forensic laboratory in order to reduce the frequency of confession-