AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Dozens of rights organizations are demanding the ‘immediate and unconditional release’ of Bahraini human rights defender Nabeel Rajab who is due back in court on December 31.
In an open letter to the Bahraini authorities, the rights groups urge Manama to “quash his convictions and sentences, and drop all charges against him.”
The letter also asks for an independent investigation into Rajab’s ill-treatment in detention as well as an end to all abuses against the kingdom’s rights campaigners and journalists.
Manama’s top court is expected to rule on Rajab’s appeal against a 5-year prison sentence, which he received in February for tweets criticizing the Saudi-led war in Yemen and the treatment of Bahraini prisoners.
“We are concerned that the authorities intend to increase Rajab’s prison sentence unopposed, by setting 31 December as the date for a hearing and possible issuing of a verdict, while most Bahrainis and people around the globe will be focused on year-end celebrations,” the rights groups noted in their letter.
Rajab is also serving a separate 2-year sentence over television interviews that he gave in 2015 and 2016.
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source : Lualua TV
Monday
17 December 2018
12:27:27 PM
920949
Dozens of rights organizations are demanding the ‘immediate and unconditional release’ of Bahraini human rights defender Nabeel Rajab who is due back in court on December 31.