Sentence Bahraini human rights activits Nabeel Rajab widely condemned

Nabeel Rajab

Human rights groups have roundly condemned a ruling by a Bahraini court to affirm a two-year jail sentence for activist Nabeel Rajab, saying the verdict "illustrates the corruption" of the kingdom's justice system.

Rajab had been found guilty in July of "spreading rumours and untruthful information" against the government in TV interviews. The verdict was upheld in November, following a legal challenge by Rajab. On Monday, an appeals court affirmed the lower court verdict, in a decision that was final. The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) on Tuesday urged the Bahraini government to immediately release Rajab, saying he is a political prisoner who had "done nothing"."Nabeel is not only a human rights defender but also a man of intellectual value. He should not be in jail," Dimitris Christopoulos, president of the Paris-based group, told Al Jazeera.
Saeed al-Shehabi, leader of the opposition Bahrain Freedom Movement, called the ruling an "implementation of a state policy". "Yesterday's decision was not just a gross violation of his human rights and the principles of fair trial," al-Shehabi told Al Jazeera on Tuesday. "This is a political decision. He did not get a fair trial. He was tried for peaceful expression of opinion," he said, adding that "95 percent of those in jail" in Bahrain "are there because of peaceful expression of opinion".
While already in jail, the government charged Rajab with more offences over his social media posts about torture in Bahrain's Jau Prison - where he is held - and his criticism of the Saudi-led war in Yemen, which his country's rulers support. Rajab had also written a letter published in the New York Times, criticising Bahrain's treatment of its people and handling of dissent. For those charges, Rajab faces a separate 15-year jail term, a prospect that Christopoulos, of FIDH, described as "outrageous" and "grotesque".
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights, the rights watchdog which Rajab leads, said the kingdom "routinely misuses the courts" to target activists and opposition members. "We are very worried about Nabeel's safety and well-being," the organisation said in a statement on Monday. "Authorities should release him immediately, drop the charges against him and investigate thoroughly his possible ill-treatment in detention."