Manama Regime Taking Revenge on Rights Activists: Bahraini Figure
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The arrest of senior Bahraini opposition figure Nabeel Rajab by the Al Khalifa regime is part of the ruling family’s plans to take revenge on the human rights activists for their past activities, a human rights advocate said.
In an interview with the Tasnim News Agency on Monday, Vice-President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights Yousif al-Muhafdah -currently exiled in Germany- said Rajab, president of the center, has been taken into custody despite staying away from any political activities lately.
He said the Bahraini rulers have launched a scheme to suppress the human rights activists, pointing to the travel bans, exiling human rights activist Zainab al-Khawaja, and the arrest of Rajab as the most recent case.
“The purpose of Al Khalifa is to silence any voice speaking out about human rights in Bahrain,” Muhafdah deplored.
He also predicted that such punitive measures would rage within the next two months.
Nabeel Rajab was arrested on Monday after a group of security forces surrounded his house in the village of Bani Jamrah west of the capital, Manama, according to his Twitter account.
He has been arrested several times since the start of the anti-regime uprising in the tiny Persian Gulf island in 2011.
He was sentenced to six months in prison in January 2015 for posting tweets critical of the Al Khalifa regime. In May last year, a Bahraini court upheld Rajab’s jail sentence.
The arrest came as the Al Khalifa regime prevented a delegation of activists from traveling to Geneva to attend the 32nd session of the UN Human Rights Council.
Since February 14, 2011, thousands of anti-regime protesters have held numerous demonstrations on an almost daily basis in Bahrain, calling for the Al Khalifa family to relinquish power.
