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Bahrain Activist’s Trial for Tweeting on Yemen Postponed, Saudi Arabia Threatens over UN Probe

Bahrain Activist’s Trial for Tweeting on Yemen Postponed, Saudi Arabia Threatens over UN Probe
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Local Editor

Leading Bahraini human rights campaigner Nabeel Rajab's trial for tweeting on Yemen was dealt another postponement, in the wake of Saudi Arabia's threats to states calling for an independent investigation into human rights violations in the conflict.

Bahrain Activist’s Trial for Tweeting on Yemen Postponed, Saudi Arabia Threatens over UN Probe

The postponement coincides with Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn's condemnation of the "cruel Saudi war in Yemen" and Bahrain's "crushing of democracy" in his keynote speech at the party's annual conference this afternoon.

Meanwhile, Rajab expects his first appeal hearing in relation to his sentencing in July 2017 to two years in prison on a separate charge of speaking to journalists.

President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, Rajab must now wait until 19 November for the next hearing in his trial regarding tweets about Yemen. The court heard no pleadings today and postponed the case in order for a Ministry of Interior forensic expert to prepare a report.

Rajab faces up to 15 years in prison for "insulting a statutory body", "spreading rumors in war time" and "insulting a neighboring country", namely Saudi Arabia. The latest hearing marks the second one overseen by a new judge. In his previous hearing, on 11 September, the judge postponed the hearing until today - likely due to his unfamiliarity with the case.

In parallel, the Associated Press revealed a letter in which Saudi Arabia threatens at least two foreign countries that sending independent investigators to Yemen could "negatively affect" trade and diplomatic ties with the wealthy state.

The kingdom's letter warned that Arab states "will not accept" the Dutch-Canadian draft resolution at the current UN Human Rights Council session, which calls for an international, independent investigation.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

 

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