Nabeel Rajab Re-charged, Verdict Next Month

Local Editor

A Bahraini watchdog says the country's leading activist, Nabeel Rajab, has been charged with publishing "false news and statements and malicious rumors that undermine the prestige of the kingdom," a day after his letter appeared in The New York Times.

The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy reported the charges on Monday.

Rajab's "Letter from a Bahraini Jail" was published on Sunday in which he accuses Bahrain of subjecting "its people to imprisonment, torture and even death for daring to desire democracy."

Rajab has been detained since mid-June over his criticism of Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen and the condition of detainees at Bahrain's Jaw prison.

This comes as a Bahraini court will next month announce its verdict in the trial of Rajab whose detention has been condemned by rights groups, a judicial source said Monday.

The activist, who had been pardoned for health reasons last year, was re-arrested in June and is on trial on charges of insulting a state institution and Saudi Arabia in online postings.

The court is hand down its verdict on October 6, the source said.

During Monday's hearing attended by 51-year-old Rajab, the judge again rejected a request by the activist's defense team to free him, the judicial source said.

The criminal court had repeatedly ordered that Rajab remain in custody throughout the trial, despite recurring health problems for which was briefly hospitalized in late June.

Human Rights Watch has urged Bahraini authorities to "immediately stop the prosecution" of Rajab "who faces up to 15 years in prison solely for charges that violate his right to free expression."

"Bahrain keeping Nabeel Rajab in a prison cell for criticizing abuses shows the ruling al-Khalifa family's deep contempt for basic human rights," said HRW's deputy Middle East director, Joe Stork.

Amnesty International has also denounced what it described as Rajab's "farcical trial".

The activist has been repeatedly detained for organizing protests and publishing tweets deemed insulting to Bahrain's authorities.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team