| | | Date: Jun 27, 2018 | | Source: The Daily Star |  |  |  |
| | Bahrain court jails two over anti-govt social media activity | Agence France Presse
DUBAI: A Bahraini court Monday sentenced a woman, believed to be activist Najah Ahmad Youssef, and a man to three years in jail over social media use, the public prosecution said. The woman was convicted for managing accounts on social networking sites “which published articles and videos promoting terrorist acts, incited hatred against the governing regime and collected funds to organize anti-government events,” Issa al-Rowaie, acting chief prosecutor for terrorist crimes, was quoted as saying in a statement.
The man was found guilty of helping her to run those social media accounts.
Together, “they broadcast false and biased news” about conditions in Bahrain and “promoted terrorist acts” in the kingdom, the prosecution statement said, without specifying the acts. The two individuals were not identified.
Hours earlier, the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy issued a statement condemning the verdict and identifying the woman as political activist Najah Ahmad Youssef. It said Youssef had been targeted on “politically motivated charges” after criticizing the kingdom’s hosting of the 2017 Bahrain Grand Prix. Youssef has been held in detention since April 2017, according to BIRD. |
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