Bahrain Dismisses UN Call to Release Rights Defender Nabeel Rajab

Local Editor

Bahrain on Friday rejected a UN call to release prominent rights activist Nabeel Rajab, saying he is serving a five-year sentence for "false" tweets "which do not fall within freedom of expression."

The claims by the General Directorate of Anti-Corruption and Economic and Electronic Crimes came a week after the UN human rights office called on Bahrain to "immediately and unconditionally release" Rajab.

The Bahraini activist, who played a key role in the anti-government peaceful protests in 2011, lost his final appeal on December 31 against a five-year jail term for writing tweets deemed “offensive to the state.”

Relatively, Bahrain's Supreme Court, whose verdicts are final, upheld the jail term against him.

"Nabeel Rajab posted false and malicious tweets which do not fall within the freedom of expression," Bahrain's anti-corruption unit claimed in Friday's statement.

It said Rajab "posted false and malicious tweets harming the civil peace and social harmony."

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team