Bahrain Crackdown: Regime Suspends Online Opposition-Linked Newspaper

Local Editor

Bahraini regime authorities had suspended the online version of the opposition-linked al-Wasat newspaper until further notice, accusing it of publishing materials that threaten national unity, state news agency BNA reported on Monday.

Reuters reported that Bahrain's only independent daily is associated with the mainly Shia Muslim-led opposition, which had been facing a regime crackdown since last year. It is the second time the newspaper has been closed since last August.

"The newspaper has repeatedly published and broadcast material that causes a rift in society and [promotes] a spirit of division that harms national unity and public order," the information ministry said in a statement carried by BNA.

"A newspaper employee confirmed that the online edition, including online services, had been suspended but said the print edition had been allowed to continue," Reuters added.

Western-allied Bahrain, where the US Fifth Fleet is based, crushed mass protests by the country's Shai majority in 2011.

The regime had been waging a crackdown on the opposition since last year, closing down the main opposition al-Wefaq group, increasing a prison sentence against its leader, arresting prominent activist Nabeel Rajab and revoking the citizenship of prominent spiritual leader Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim.

On Sunday, Bahrain put to death three Shia young men, in the first such execution in years.

Al-Wasat, founded by private investors in 2002, was briefly closed in 2015 and the government cited similar reasons then. It was also briefly shut in 2011 following peaceful anti-regime protests in the Gulf island kingdom, and its senior staff were removed and prosecuted.

The paper is headed by Mansoor al-Jamri, one of three senior editors who was tried on charges of allegedly fabricating news when the paper reported the protests.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team