Bahrain Jails Leading Shiite Activist for 3 Months
A Bahraini court on Monday handed leading Shiite activist Nabil Rajab a three month jail sentence after convicting him of posting tweets deemed insulting to Sunnis, one of his lawyer said.
"Nabil Rajab has been sentenced to three months in prison," in the Muharaq case, Mohammed al-Jishi told Agence France Presse, adding that the defense would appeal the verdict.
The activist had been released on June 27, three weeks after he was arrested for tweeting insults against the predominantly Sunni population of the province of Muharaq, according to prosecutors.
In a statement last month, prosecutors said they received complaints that Rajab "talked on social networks about the people of Muharaq in a way that questioned their patriotism and insulted them."
Last year, a significant part of the minority Sunni community rallied around the government as Shiites led protests against the regime of the country's Sunni monarchy.
Rajab is on trial in three other cases, all of which are linked to separate protests across Bahrain.
The activist had led anti-government protests following a government crackdown on Shiite-led demonstrations against the regime in March 2011.
Amnesty says 60 people have been killed since the protests erupted in February last year in the Gulf kingdom ruled by the Al-Khalifa family.
Source: Agence France Presse
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