Paris Municipality Grants Bahrain’s Nabeel Rajab Honorary Citizenship
Local Editor
The Municipality of Paris granted Bahraini opposition figure and human rights defender Nabeel Rajab, who has been detained since 2016, the title of an honorary citizen minding his "struggle defending human rights," and further called the Bahraini authorities to release him.
In this respect, the Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo considered that granting Rajab this title "contributed to shedding light on his situation and the similar situations of any other people who are detained today or oppressed in the world because of disrespect to the freedom of expression."
Hidalgo also stressed in a statement that "the freedom of expression and the freedom of media are of the main principles of Democratic regimes, and that Paris strongly supports this."
"We, in our initiative, demand his release," she added.
The statement further mentioned that Rajab has been in detention since 2016 for condemning the embargo on non-governmental organizations and banning journalists from entering Bahrain.
For its part, the European Union called Bahrain for freeing the rights activist, expressing unconditional support for activists who defend freedom of opinion and expression.
Relatively, an EU spokesperson urged all parties in Bahrain to launch a true national dialogue for reconciliation.
Rajab heads the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and the Gulf Center for Human Rights. He is also the Deputy Secretary General of the International Union for Human Rights.
Rajab was sentenced on February 21 to 5 years in prison for tweets criticizing the Saudi aggression on Yemen. He also condemned in his posts human rights violations in his country, and a Bahraini appeals court upheld the sentence against him on Tuesday.
Source: Al-Ahed
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