Today, 16 August, Nabeel Rajab, President of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) which is one the 3 nominees of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders 2012, was sentenced to three years imprisonment on charges of illegal assembly
Nabeel Rajab with one of many tear gas cannisters fired into his houseFront Line Defenders, one of the NGOs on the Jury of the MEA, other NGOS condemned the imprisonment of Nabeel Rajab and called for his immediate and unconditional release.
The prosecution of Nabeel Rajab for exercising his rights to freedom of assembly and freedom of expression, was done before a court that has consistently failed to adhere to international fair trial standards. It is part of an ongoing pattern of repression by the Bahraini authorities against human rights defenders.
See interview with Nabeel Rajab at time of his initial arrest in July
Related articles
- An open letter from the wife of Nabeel Rajab HRD detained in Bahrain (thoolen.wordpress.com)
- Another Bahraini human rights activist, Said Yousif, arrested (thoolen.wordpress.com)
- Verdicts to be Issued for Bahraini Human Rights Defender Nabeel Rajab (kractivist.wordpress.com)
- Bahrain jails prominent activist Rajab for 3 years (rt.com)
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 
October 10, 2012 at 18:04
[…] Human rights defender Nabeel Rajab sentenced to 3 years prison in Bahrain (thoolen.wordpress.com) […]
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