Bahraini Human Rights Defender Awaits Sentence · Global Voices
Noor Mattar

Nabeel Rajab is scheduled to be sentenced in a case brought against him by the Bahraini government on March 15, concerning comments about ISIS that he made on Twitter. Convicted of “denigrating an official body” in tweets likening Bahrain's security apparatus to an “incubator” for ISIS fighters, Rajab was initially sentenced to six months in prison. His sentence is being re-issued following a judicial appeal made by his legal defense in early February.
Rajab, who heads the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (dissolved and declared an illegal entity by the government), was released from prison in May 2014 after two years’ imprisonment for “disrupting public order.” Rajab was arrested and jailed following his efforts to investigate human rights violations surrounding Bahrain's popular uprising in 2011.