Bahrain clamps down on talks of ‘spy’ allegations
By AFP
Middle East Times
Published October 31, 2006
Bahrain has censored local and foreign Internet sites for discussing a report by an alleged British spy who claimed to have uncovered a plot to maintain Sunni domination of the Gulf kingdom, local media said Tuesday.
Newspaper reports quoted ministry of information official Hassan Aoun as saying “the sites in question transgressed a ruling by the high court banning [October 4] publication of any information or commentary on the matter.”
Bahraini rights activist Nabil Rajeb slammed the move as “a flagrant violation of the right to free speech,” saying that “the censorship affected around 17 Internet sites, mostly Bahraini.”
Bahrain clamps down on talks of ‘spy’ allegations
By AFP
Middle East Times
Published October 31, 2006
Bahrain has censored local and foreign Internet sites for discussing a report by an alleged British spy who claimed to have uncovered a plot to maintain Sunni domination of the Gulf kingdom, local media said Tuesday.
Newspaper reports quoted ministry of information official Hassan Aoun as saying “the sites in question transgressed a ruling by the high court banning [October 4] publication of any information or commentary on the matter.”
Bahraini rights activist Nabil Rajeb slammed the move as “a flagrant violation of the right to free speech,” saying that “the censorship affected around 17 Internet sites, mostly Bahraini.”
“It’s regrettable that this measure comes shortly before legislative and municipal elections [November 25]. It will give a negative image of our country and damage its reform projects,” he said.
Bahraini newspaper editors October 15 demanded the earlier court ruling be reversed to “uphold freedom of expression for responsible and committed opinion.”
The day before that, 100 Bahraini figures including members of parliament called on King Hamad Bin Issa Al Khalifa to “address the people publicly to answer all the serious questions” raised in the report that alleged the involvement of a top official.
“The danger of this issue is embodied in the direct involvement of a high-ranking official in this plot,” they said, referring to state minister Sheikh Ahmed Bin Atiyatullah Al Khalifa who was reportedly named in the report.
Bandar, who was expelled from Bahrain last month, said that he had uncovered a secret organization operating within the Sunni-led government to “deprive an essential part of the population of this country of their rights.”
Bahrain, which was shaken by a wave of Shiite unrest in the 1990s, revived its elected parliament in 2002, although the opposition continues to object to dividing legislative power equally between the elected chamber and an appointed consultative council.
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