AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Officials of the Al Khalifa regime arrested "Fatima Haroun," a social researcher, for publishing a viewpoint on Instagram about Ashura.
Bahrain's Ministry of Interior claimed on Thursday that her arrest was made on charges of misusing social media, and that the content she published included public insult to one of the religious denominations.
In response, the Bahraini Prisoners Affairs Commission condemned this arrest and considered it another link in the process of systematically restricting freedom of expression and suppressing intellectuals and civil activists in the country.
This body stated in a statement that the charges brought against Fatima Haroun are among the general and vague charges that have repeatedly been used for the prosecution of critics and the criminalization of freedom of expression.
According to this commission, this researcher's action was nothing more than exercising her natural right to express her opinion.
The Bahraini Prisoners Affairs Commission also emphasized that the arrest of a known academic and social figure solely for publishing an opinion in cyberspace indicates increasing pressure on elites and intellectuals and efforts to restrict cyberspace and intensify security control over freedom of expression; an action that, according to this body, is in conflict with international human rights obligations and standards.
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