HAQ: Movement of Liberties and Democracy- Bahrain
11 September 2006
Press Release
BAHRAIN : Ratifying Ban of Publishing Names or Photosgraphs of Accused
The head of State has ratified Act no 65 of 2006 which bans publishing names or photos of the accused prior to the court ruling in the case without the permission of the Public Prosecutions (see media declaration below). The same penalty is applicable upon those who cooperate with foreign media by providing names or photographs of those accused. The act is amendment of Article 246 of the Penal Code promulgated by Decree Law No. 15 of 1976, which states, after amendments, that “it is punishable, with imprisonment of not more than a year or fine of not more than BD 100, who publishes, with any means (..), names or photographs of those accused, before the final verdict, and without permission from the Public Prosecution (PR) or the relevant court depending on the circumstances. It is also punishable with the same penalty who cooperated with foreign media by providing names and photographs of the those accused”.
HAQ: Movement of Liberties and Democracy- Bahrain
11 September 2006
Press Release
BAHRAIN : Ratifying Ban of Publishing Names or Photosgraphs of Accused
The head of State has ratified Act no 65 of 2006 which bans publishing names or photos of the accused prior to the court ruling in the case without the permission of the Public Prosecutions (see media declaration below). The same penalty is applicable upon those who cooperate with foreign media by providing names or photographs of those accused. The act is amendment of Article 246 of the Penal Code promulgated by Decree Law No. 15 of 1976, which states, after amendments, that “it is punishable, with imprisonment of not more than a year or fine of not more than BD 100, who publishes, with any means (..), names or photographs of those accused, before the final verdict, and without permission from the Public Prosecution (PR) or the relevant court depending on the circumstances. It is also punishable with the same penalty who cooperated with foreign media by providing names and photographs of the those accused”.
This Act will completely prevent the accused, their families, and human rights defenders from being able to pursue their rights, especially those related to arbitrary detention, torture, maltreatment, or unjust prosecutions. This is attributed to the fact that any public activity, to defend the accused, is not possible without declaring their names and photographs, which will be a punishable crime as per this law. Refer to http://www.bahrainrights.org/node/12, for further details.
Amidst the Authorities attitudes towards activists and human rights defenders as well as the State Security measures taken against freedom of expression, it is anticipated that the execution of this Act will result in scores of activists and detainees of conscience made behind bars. This is an institutionalizing repression and will trigger instability very soon and will bring the situation to unrest in Bahrain.
HAQ is expressing its concern for the execution of this Act and calling for combating this law which targets activists and prevents from supporting accused and State Security victims. We call for all respective organization to express their posture towards this law which contradicts the fact that Bahrain is a member of the new UN Human Rights Council.
For further information, you may approach:
Dr Abduljalil Alsingace
Email: haq.bahrain@gmail.com
+973 – 3966 8179
