DUBAI: Bahrain’s high court upheld a five-year jail sentence against activist Nabeel Rajab on Monday for criticizing Saudi Arabia’s air strikes in Yemen and accusing Bahrain’s prison authorities of torture, his lawyer said.
Rajab, a leading figure in the 2011 pro-democracy protests, was sentenced to five years in prison in February for criticizing the Saudi air strikes and writing tweets accusing authorities of torture.
He was already serving a two-year term over a news interview in which he said Bahrain tortured political prisoners.
“The Court of Cassation rejected the appeal and upheld the sentence of five years in prison against Nabeel Rajab for his tweets,” his lawyer, Mohamed Al Jishi, told Reuters by phone.
The convictions were for “spreading false news and rumors in time of war,” “insulting foreign countries” and “insulting publicly the interior ministry” in comments posted on Twitter, a court document see by Reuters showed.
Bahrain’s high court upholds five-year sentence against activist
Bahrain’s high court upholds five-year sentence against activist
- Rajab, a leading figure in the 2011 pro-democracy protests, was sentenced to five years in prison in February
- He was already serving a two-year term over a news interview in which he said Bahrain tortured political prisoners
