Human rights defender Nabeel Rajab re-arrested on other charges despite court order to temporarily release him

30 December 2016 – Following the court’s decision to temporarily releaseBahrain’s most prominent human rights defender Nabeel Rajab in a Twitter case,he was immediately taken into custody on another investigation in relation totelevised interviews dating back to 2015 and January 2016. The pending chargesare without substance and must be dropped and he must be immediately andunconditionally released, say the Observatory for the Protection of HumanRights Defenders (FIDH-OMCT partnership), the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information(ANHRI), Front Line Defenders and the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR), whomandated a joint trial observation mission.

On December 28, 2016,following an important mobilisation for his release, Manama’s Fifth HighCriminal Court acceded to an application for Nabeel Rajab’s temporary releasefollowing a failure to give any basis or any sufficient evidence of a linkbetween him and the Twitter account with respect to the Yemeni and Jaw prisontweets (see below).

“The quality of theevidence from the purported computer forensic expert was very poor. It extended no further than a recital of theresults of a basic Google search,” said the trial observer. “The supposedly neutralexpert witness is an employee of the Bahrain Government Ministry of interior,” he added.

According to defensesubmisisions made by Rajab’s lawyer during the hearing: “There has never been any sound legal justification to hold Nabeel Rajabin detention in this trial because of a lack of evidence since the very startof this case. The evidence of the Ministry of Interior’s so-called expertbefore the Court today makes it clearer than ever that at no point in time hasthere been, nor probably could there have been, any technical evidence tosupport this prosecution. Hence Nabeel Rajab’s release should be orderedforthwith.” The judge agreed and ordered the temporary release of Rajabuntil the next hearing scheduled on January 23, 2017 in which the court willallow the Public Prosecution to present new evidence against Nabeel Rajab,after such was requested by the Public Prosecution.

Nabeel Rajab thuscontinues to face charges of allegedly “offending a foreign country” (SaudiArabia) and “offending national institutions,” for comments about the allegedtorture of inmates in Bahrain’s Jaw Prison in March 2015. He still faces up to15 years in prison notably for tweets critical of Bahrain’s participation inSaudi Arabia-led military operations in Yemen, which according to the UnitedNations, have so far been responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians.A travel ban remains in place as ithas been without a break for almost three years.

Then Rajab was taken tothe Criminal Investigation Directorate (CID) for temporary release. However, he was re-arrestedlater on the same day and referred to the Public Prosecution in relation to aninvestigation into televised interviews dating from 2015 and January 2016,which commenced in mid-June 2016. He will be held for seven days on thesecharges. It seems that these interviews were with television networks whichsupport the Bahraini opposition: a Bahraini network (based in the UnitedKingdom), a Lebanese network and an Iranian network.

“It is shocking that theCourt has only ordered Nabeel Rajab’s temporary release when there was afinding of no evidence after more than a year of the Twitter case. It isextraordinary that he has been immediately taken back into custody forinvestigation on charges relating to events that date back to 2015 and January2016, in an investigation which has been completely dormant since mid-June2016,”noted the trial observer.

Nabeel Rajab is theco-founder and President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR),Founding Director of GCHR, Deputy Secretary General of FIDH from 2012 to 2016,and a member of the Middle East advisory committee at Human Rights Watch. Commentson his Twitter account about the Saudi-led coalition airstrikes in Yemen firstled to his arrest on April 2, 2015. He remained in custody until he received aroyal pardon for health reasons and was thus released on July 13, 2015. Againon June 13, 2016 he was arrested for the televised interviews. During hisdetention in relation to the televised interviews’ investigation he wasreferred for trial in the criminal court in relation to the Yemeni war Tweets.He remained in detention on these charges until December 28, 2016.

He has suffered from poor health in prison includingheart problems. Most worryingly, he has been held in solitary confinement forthe vast majority of that period and denied access to proper care. It isreported that his cell is air conditioned but filthy and infested withcockroaches. On October 3, 2016, he was taken to the Bahraini Defense Forceshospital for surgery to remove his gallbladder. Despite the risks of moving himback to jail, Rajab was taken from the hospital the day after his surgery andplaced in solitary confinement in a dirty cell. Three days after surgery, hewas taken back to court.

“The practice of holding a person insolitary confinement for prolonged periods is internationally recognised as a form ofcruel, inhuman and degrading treatment that may amount to torture. Solitaryconfinement can have a devastating effect on a prisoner’s mental health.” remarkedthe trial observer.

Charges regarding theYemeni Tweets are based on Articles 133 and 160 of Bahrain’s Penal Code andprovide for up to 10 years in prison for anyone who “deliberately announces inwartime false or malicious news, statements or rumors.” Charges regarding thetelevised interviews are based on Article 134 of the Penal Code, which providesbetween three months and three years of imprisonment for releasing deliberately“abroad false or malicious news or statements or rumours about domesticconditions or for exercising in any manner whatsoever activities that areharmful to the national interests.”

In September 2016, an additionalinvestigation was initiated against Rajab following the publication on September5, 2016 of an Op-Ed in The New York Times with his by-line, which discussedthe conditions of his imprisonment and arrest. The pending charge of“intentionally broadcasting false news and malicious rumours abroad impairingthe prestige of the State” carries an additional one-year prison term if he isconvicted.

On December 21, 2016,Rajab was interrogated in connection with a letter published in his name in theFrench newspaper Le Monde on December 19, which urged Paris and Berlinto “reassess their relationship with [members of the Gulf Cooperation Council],which actively work against democracy and human rights and fan the flames ofviolence and extremism.”

Human rightsorganisations, the UN and government representatives worldwide have allcalled for Rajab to be released, including through ANRI “Their Freedom is TheirRight” Campaign which named him Prisoner of the Month in September, FIDH #RT4Freedom website,and a case history by Front Line Defenders.

ANHRI, Front LineDefenders, GCHR and the Observatory (FIDH-OMCT) call on the Government ofBahrain to:

1. Immediately and unconditionally release NabeelRajab and drop all charges against him, as well as removehis travel ban;

2. Uphold internationallegal standards including ensuring that technical experts are independent; and

3. End all forms of reprisals against humanrights defenders and other activists in Bahrain, including travel bans, towhich they have been subjected in violation of their rights to freedom ofassembly and freedom of expression.

Formore information, please contact:

• FIDH: Audrey Couprie / Arthur Manet: +33 1 43 55 25 18
• World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT): Delphine Reculeau: +41 22 809 49 39
• GCHR: Khalid Ibrahim: +961 70159552