“Imprisoning Nabeel Rajab simply for sharing his opinion is a flagrant violation of human rights, and an alarming sign that the Bahraini authorities will go to any length to silence criticism,” said Amnesty’s Secretary General, Salil Shetty.
“Nabeel Rajab should be commended for shedding light on allegations of serious human rights abuses; instead, Bahrain’s government and judiciary have once again tightened their chokehold on freedom of expression and branded him a criminal. No one should be jailed for speaking out about human rights,” Shetty added.
A Manama court sentenced Rajab to 2 years in prison after finding him guilty of “spreading false news”.
The human rights defender was arrested over a year ago and is currently being detained in hospital after authorities failed to provide him with proper medical care following a long delayed surgery in April.
Rajab also faces another trial on August 7 over a separate set of charges related to tweets criticizing the bombardment of Yemen as well as the use of torture in Bahrain’s Jaw Prison. If found guilty, he could be sentenced to an additional 15 years in prison.
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