Cairo, 11 October 2011
ANHRI condemns the sentence issued by the Supreme Criminal Court, fining Mansour Al-Jamry, editor-in-chief of the Bahraini newspaper of Al-Wasat, and three of his colleague 1000 Bahraini Dinars for “publishing news that defame the image of Bahrain abroad” during the protests of last February.
The court convicted the newspaper and fined Mansoor Al-Jamri and Walid Nuwayhid, the former editors-in-chief of the newspaper, Aqeel Mirza, former chief of the localities department, and Ali Al-Sharifi, journalist.
Cairo, 11 October 2011
ANHRI condemns the sentence issued by the Supreme Criminal Court, fining Mansour Al-Jamry, editor-in-chief of the Bahraini newspaper of Al-Wasat, and three of his colleague 1000 Bahraini Dinars for “publishing news that defame the image of Bahrain abroad” during the protests of last February.
The court convicted the newspaper and fined Mansoor Al-Jamri and Walid Nuwayhid, the former editors-in-chief of the newspaper, Aqeel Mirza, former chief of the localities department, and Ali Al-Sharifi, journalist.
It is worth noting that the Bahraini authorities had previously shut down the newspaper last April, and forced its editors to resign. Al-Wasat resumed work again under ongoing restrictions by the authorities and security services.
The restrictions imposed on Al-Wasat and its journalist come as a part of the security campaign launched by the authorities against the opposition and human rights and Internet activists in Bahrain, following the intervention of the troops of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to repress the peaceful protests in the country. The court issued a bulk of sentences against journalists and activists, the last case being the endorsement of the sentences issued against 21 Bahraini activist, among of which Abdul-Jalil Al-Singace and Ali Abdul Imam, bloggers, and Abdul-Hady Al-Khawaja, rights activist, by the Appeal Court. Some of the sentences ranged up to life imprisonment.
“It is such a shame the the Bahraini government continues to use the policing approach and its repressive policy against those who oppose it, albeit it promised to conduct a comprehensive national dialogue with the opposition, to reform the political and economic state of the country. However, after several month following the suppression and control of the protests with the support of the Saudi military and the GCC troops, the government proves that it has no alternative to the policing solutions and that its call for a national dialogue was not serious. The Bahraini government started the “national dialogue” by a security campaign, in which it expelled its opponents outside the country, detained some others and tortured them, killing a blogger inside the prison. Other activists were brought to unfair trials and were sentenced many years in prison” said ANHRI.
“The silence of the Arab and International community on the unfolding events in Bahrain has amounted to collusion. The ongoing, shameful negligence of the crimes of this regime has become a crime against anyone calling for freedom” added ANHRI.
Related information
Bahrain: The Military Appeal Court endorses life imprisonment against prominent activists
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