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King Hamad of Bahrain has pardoned the leading human rights activist “Nabeel Rajab” who is serving a six-month jail sentence. Rajab was imprisoned for allegedly posting offensive tweets about the ministries in the country.
He was sentenced in January for posting comments on the social networking site about Bahrain’s interior and defense ministries alleging that many officers serving in the security forces had developed Sunni extremist views and joined the “Islamic State” group. He also tweeted that the Sunni-ruled monarchy was treating its political Shiite prisoners badly.
Nabeel Rajab has received the special pardon for “health reasons” from the Bahraini King after spending months on jail form the six months sentence on charges of insulting public institutions on Twitter.
Rajab is the president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), a member of the Advisory Committee of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East Division, Deputy Secretary General for the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH). Also, a member of the country’s Shiite group and opposition leader.
Rajab led a protests against the government in 2012 and was sentenced to jail for two years before being released in 2014. He was sentences for illegal political activities involving the use of social networking sites. he also served other prison sentences since 2002.
Bahrain has been facing unrest over the past four years as its Shiite majority calls for more rights from the Sunni royal leaders. Bahrain silenced the protests in 2011, but anti-government demonstrations still occur.
