Bahrain extends detention of top rights activist
Bahrain has extended the detention of the Arab country’s senior human rights activist Nabeel Rajab for seven more days.
On Saturday, a Bahraini prosecutor ruled that Rajab’s detention would be extended for another week pending further investigation, the activist’s son said.
Bahraini regime forces arrested Rajab, the director of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), on Thursday over his remarks on Twitter regarding the use of torture in the country's notorious Jaw Prison.
The prominent activist said in a video posted on YouTube after his arrest that he was a victim of an “attempt by the authorities to deprive me of my right to free expression”.
Rajab had been released pending an appeal on a six-month prison sentence he was given in January for a tweet deemed critical of the government. His appeal was scheduled to be considered on April 15.
However, the BCHR announced on Saturday that the appeal would be considered 10 days ahead of the schedule.
The change is “not a good sign," the BCHR said on its Twitter account.
Rajab, known internationally for his peaceful human rights work, spent two years in prison from mid-2012 to mid-2014.
He has been regularly targeted by the Bahraini government since pro-democracy protests broke out against the ruling Al Khalifa dynasty in the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom in early 2011.
Scores of Bahrainis have been killed and hundreds of others injured and arrested in the ongoing crackdown on peaceful demonstrations.
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