BCHR President Nabeel Rajab Arrested
Bahraini anti-regime protesters have held a demonstration in the northwestern village of Bani Jamra to demand the release of detained human rights activist Nabeel Rajab.
The president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR), Rajab was arrested upon return from Lebanon at the Bahrain International Airport in the capital, Manama, on May 5.
Rajab has become a leading figure in the opposition since pro-democracy protests broke out last year and had been on an international tour in which he spoke with several media organizations.
He returned to Manama on Saturday evening and was immediately detained, with charges expected to be filed against him in the coming days.
"The General Director of Anti-Corruption and Economic and Electronic Security has announced that Nabeel Rajab was arrested on Saturday evening. He was detained under suspicion of committing several punishable crimes," a statement from the Bahraini Ministry of the Interior said without elaborating on what charges he was held on.
"The General Director said that legal procedures were being finalized to refer him to the Public Prosecutor," the statement added.
Said Yousif, his deputy at the BCHR, confirmed the arrests and said Rajab had been told there were new charges to be put against him.
Rajab was previously charged with organizing illegal gatherings under Bahraini legislation which bans many public protests, but the charges were later dropped.
Yousif told "al-Akhbar" daily that he believed the Bahraini government had decided to silence Rajab as his tour had included a series of interviews with international media.
"(They arrested him) because he has been talking to the media in the last few months, including (BBC show) Hard Talk, which made the Bahraini government angry," he said. "After these programs millions of people will know about the violations in Bahrain."
"The Bahrain foreign minister was threatening him through Twitter, saying we are not going to stay silent about your interview. Two weeks after that threat he has been arrested," he added.
Source: News agencies, Edited by moqawama.org
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