SHAFAQNA

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) - The wife of jailed Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab says he is being denied medical treatment for a back injury. Sumaya Rajab told the BBC that prison officials had repeatedly refused requests to send him to hospital. Mr Rajab has served 11 months of a two-year sentence for encouraging "illegal gatherings". The 48-year-old has been a leader of the pro-democracy protests which have rocked the kingdom since February 2011. Mr Rajab, head of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, has more than 200,000 followers on Twitter.

His wife, Sumaya, said he had told her he was experiencing back pain so severe that at times he could not move but that requests for him to be taken to hospital and examined by a specialist had been refused."They tell him to take some exercise and give him a tablet for the pain, that's all they do," she said.According to Ms Rajab the back injury dates from a beating her husband sustained at the hands of the police in 2005. At that time, she said, he spent a week in hospital recovering from the effects of the beating.

No-one from Jaw prison where Mr Rajab is being held was available for comment.Another activist Zainab al-Khawaja, who was jailed for three months in March, has been denied access to her family for refusing to wear prison issue clothes.Her father Abdulhadi al-Khawaja who received a life sentence for plotting the overthrow of the government on evidence that is widely accepted as having been secured under torture has also been refused family visits on the same grounds.

source : BBC

End

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – North Korea says it will prepare its nuclear force for an all-out war against the United States as it blames Washington for the escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

The President of the Supreme People's Assembly, Kim Yong-nam said that Pyongyang would expand the quantity and quality of its nuclear force which is the “treasure of a unified Korea.”

He made the comments during a memorial event, which was held in the capital, Pyongyang, on Sunday on the eve of the 101st anniversary of the birthday of late leader Kim Il-sung.

The official added that Pyongyang’s “invincible defense forces” that are armed with strengthening “nuclear deterrence forces” would “unfold a total fight against the US, acting in accordance with a wartime scenario.”

The remarks followed Pyongyang’s rejection of South Korea's proposal to resolve tensions through dialogue as the North said the offer was “a cunning ploy to hide the South’s policy of confrontation.”

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State who arrived in Japan on the last day of his four-day visit to Asia to discuss recent tensions on the Korean peninsula earlier on Sunday, has said that Washington is “fully committed to the defence of Japan.”

In Friday, the Japanese Daily Press reported that Pyongyang had issued a warning to Tokyo to stop its “hostile posture” against North Korea or else Tokyo would be the main target in case of a war in the region.

Tensions sharply heightened after the US dispatched nuclear-capable B-52s and B-2 stealth bombers to participate in joint military drills with South Korea.

The moves prompted Pyongyang to step up its war rhetoric, authorizing its army to launch preemptive nuclear strikes on the US.

North Korea has also said its military should be prepared to attack “all US military bases in the Asia-Pacific region, including the US mainland, Hawaii, and Guam,” in addition to South Korea.-www.shafaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – Film documentary about the activist Nabeel Rajab , who is in jail for tow years because of tweeter . this film made by society Martin in Geneva .

Source : Shafaqna.com/english

End

SHAFAQNA(Shia International News Association)-- New release video Nabeel Rajab was talking to police officer to allow the people to protest and they peacefully asking for freedom and democracy . Police officer saying to him you brought them and you have to tell them go back . Nabeel insisted that he asked them to come to practice their right in freedom speech and protest .

Source : shafaqna.com/english

End

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) — A Bahraini court has rejected a request from Nabeel Rajab’s defense team to suspend his sentence and release him from jail. The Human rights activist is serving three years term for “participation in illegal demonstrations.”

The request was made by Rajab's lawyer, Mohammed al-Jishi.

Nabeel Rajab is expected to appear before the Bahraini Appeals Court on October 16.

Meanwhile, Rajab went on ”dry” hunger strike on October, 6, after he was allowed out of jail for three days to bury his mother but then was suddenly barred in the first day from attending a condolence gathering.

Bahraini authorities claimed that Rajab was not allowed to stay out of prison longer because he violated the terms of his release and "delivered a speech inciting mourners to stage illegal protests". However Rajab argued that his speech was a "peaceful expression of opinion."

Rajab has been in police custody since July 9, and on August 16 a lower Bahraini court sentenced him to three years for “involvement in illegal practices, inciting gatherings and calling for unauthorized marches through social networking sites.”

The court has recently satisfied the lawyers’ request to merge Rajab’s three cases related to his participation in rallies into one single appeal.

The three-year sentence followed a three-month prison term, handed down to him on Jul9th, for posting anti-government messages on Twitter.

In August, Rajab was cleared of defamation, winning his legal battle against the three-month sentence for allegedly r criticizing the country’s Prime Minister on Twitter, where Rajab has over 170,000 followers.

Rajab is a fierce critic of the Bahraini authorities and a prominent international human rights activist. He is a member of the Advisory Committee for the Middle East Division of Human Rights Watch.

He is also one of Bahrain’s best-known bloggers. A position that hasn’t deminished, despite his prison term.

Bahrain has been repeatedly criticized for violence and repression towards opposition activists.

Thousands have been arrested and put on military trial since the uprisings began a year ago. The country’s Shiite opposition is pushing for a transition to democracy and greater representation in the country’s Sunni government.

Despite Washington’s calls for Bahrain to negotiate with the opposition, clashes continue to erupt on a daily basis in the turmoil-afflicted nation.

Amnesty International says a total of 60 people have been killed in Bahrain since the violence began on February 14, 2011. The Bahraini interior ministry says that more than 700 people, including a number of police officers, have been injured in protests. www.shafaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) — A prominent Bahraini human rights activist has been sentenced to three years in prison for attending an "illegal demonstration".Nabeel Rajab, who is already serving a three-month sentence for posting anti-government comments on Twitter, is the head of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights and one of the most outspoken critics of the island state's government.

His lawyer, Mohammed al-Jishi, said each of three cases against him yielded a year imprisonment, for a total of three years. Al-Jishi said he plans to appeal the ruling. Rajab will be sentenced later this month for statements he made on Twitter calling for the prime minister to step down and discussing his visit to a village outside of the capital Manama.

Amnesty International has identified Rajab as a prisoner of conscience. Speaking last month, Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International'sMiddle East and North Africa deputy programme director called for the release of Rajab and 22 other detainees: "The charade of justice has gone on too long, all prisoners of conscience must be set free immediately and unconditionally."

Rajab's verdict comes two days after the Bahraini authorities postponed verdicts in the trial of 13 other dissidents. The detainees include Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, a political opposition leader, and Ebrahim Sharif, the leader of a cross-sectarian political party and one of the few Sunni Bahrainis to have been jailed for his part in the protest movement. The trial has come to be understood as a microcosm of the broader political dynamics at play in the country.

Jane Kinninmont, a senior research fellow at Chatham House, said: "There remains much speculation that the case could be used as a political bargaining chip in any efforts to prepare the ground for the fresh political dialogue for which Bahrain's western allies are pressing."

The trials take place against an increasingly fractured political backdrop, as politicians have struggled to move beyond the uneasy stalemate created by last year's anti-government uprising. In February last year, Bahrain saw mass protests calling for constitutional reform and for the removal of the world's longest-serving prime minister, Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa. The uprising was followed by a royally appointed commission (BICI) to examine the handling of the unrest. However, opinion is divided over the extent to which its recommended reforms have been implemented.

While the government claims that Bahrain no longer has any political prisoners, opponents estimate there are up to 1,400. Al-Wefaq, Bahrain's main opposition group, recently claimed that 240 people were arrested in July alone, with over 100 injured with birdshot and rubber bullets.

Source : Guardian

End

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) - Paris-Geneva, August 9, 2012 – As new cases of arbitrary arrests and ongoing judicial harassment have been reported in Bahrain, the Observatory remains extremely concerned with the very repressive climate faced by human rights defenders in the country.

On August 2, 2012, Ms. Zainab Al-Khawaja was once again arrested while she was protesting alone at Al Qadam roundabout against the arbitrary detention of her father Mr. Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, founder of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR), former President of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), and former MENA Director at Front Line. While arresting Ms. Al-Khawaja, police officers verbally assaulted her and threatened her with reprisals as she was legitimately resisting their orders to give a blood sample. She was finally forcibly led to the Fort Prison Hospital before being transferred to Isa Town Detention Center, where she was kept handcuffed despite a serious leg injury sustained after security forces shot her with tear gas canisters at close range. On August 4, 2012, the Public Prosecution remanded her into custody for seven days.

The Observatory further recalls that Mr. Nabeel Rajab, President of the BCHR, Director of the GCHR and FIDH Deputy Secretary General, has faced constant judicial harassment, as four cases have been brought against him since May 2012 in relation with his human rights activities. Mr. Rajab is still facing three of this cases. In particular, he has been detained since July 9, 2012 and sentenced to 3 months’ imprisonment for alleged libel after he tweeted the following on June 2: "Khalifa, leave the residents of Al Muharraq, its Sheikhs and its elderly. Everyone knows that you are not popular here, and if it wasn’t for the subsidies, they wouldn’t have gone out to welcome you. When will you step down?"

After his arrest and sentencing, his lawyers immediately filed two appeals. One of them requests the suspension of the sentence on the grounds that the investigation did not provide any solid legal basis to convict Mr. Rajab. After several postponments, this appeal was scheduled to be considered by the Higher Appeal Court on August 5, 2012. However, on that day, the judge decided again to postpone the hearing to August 12, officially in order to call the police officer who was in charge of the investigation procedure to the stand.

The Observatory is deeply concerned about this new postponement, as its only aim seems to be to keep Mr. Nabeel Rajab in detention as long as possible, by delaying the examination of the request filed by his lawyers against his 3-month imprisonment sentence. The Observatory reiterates its call on the Bahraini authorities to immediately and unconditionally release him as his detention is arbitrary and only aims at sanctioning his human rights activities.

The Observatory firmly denounces these new developments against human rights activities in Bahrain, and recalls the authorities’ obligation to comply with the international human rights instruments ratified by the Kingdom of Bahrain, and with the 1998 Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

For more information, please contact:

· FIDH: Arthur Manet: + 33 (0) 1 43 55 25 18

· OMCT: + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39

Source : BCHR

End

SHAFAQNA (Shia News Association) - US Department Daily Press Briefing rose Nabeel Rajab activist arrest :

QUESTION: In Bahrain?

MR. VENTRELL: Bahrain? Go ahead.

QUESTION: Amnesty International is accusing the government of the arrest of the activist Nabeel Rajab was politically – political and that he should be released immediately. Do you agree with Amnesty International?

MR. VENTRELL: While I haven’t seen the Amnesty International report, what I can tell you is that we’ve been concerned about his case. Clearly, we continue to encourage the Government of Bahrain to respect the freedom of expression, which is a universal right enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Bahrain is a party. So we’ve actively been following his case and continue to have a keen interest.

QUESTION: Do you want him released?

MR. VENTRELL: We are concerned about the reports of the three-month prison sentence, and what I will say is that broadly speaking we want the Government of Bahrain to abide by its commitment to respect the right to due process and transparent judicial proceedings.

QUESTION: But you’re not calling for his release?

MR. VENTRELL: We’re concerned about the three-month prison sentence.

QUESTION: What does that mean?

MR. VENTRELL: It means that we’re concerned about it.

QUESTION: Yeah. But what does that mean?

MR. VENTRELL: I’m not going to go any further, Matt. Thanks.

QUESTION: Well, the question was that Amnesty International says that he should be released. You don’t share – it sounds as though you do not share that same opinion.

MR. VENTRELL: I mean, what we want – the bigger picture of what we want is that, in regard to the treatment of all detainees, is that there’s a fair and transparent judicial process. So --

QUESTION: All right. Well, do you believe that that’s happened?

MR. VENTRELL: So there clearly have been cases where we’ve had concerns about the political ramifications. We’ve expressed concerns about his case in particular, and we’ll continue to raise it as appropriate with the Government of Bahrain.

Source : US State Department

End

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association)  - A prominent Bahraini protest leader, Nabeel Rajab, was sentenced to three months in prison on Monday over a tweet against the prime minister which the court said insulted Bahrainis, Rajab's lawyer said. Rajab, head of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, spent three weeks in jail in June under investigation after suggesting in a tweet that residents of the Muharraq district had only made a recent show of support for Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman for financial gain.

A complaint over that and other tweets against the prime minister, who has been in his post since 1971, was made by a group of retired army and security officers who are seen as pro-government.

Rajab has been a key figure in organizing protests during 16 months of unrest in the Gulf Arab state as majority Shi'ites lead calls for democratic reforms to limit the powers of the ruling Sunni Al Khalifa family.

Bahrain has increased parliament's powers of scrutiny over ministers and says it is reforming policing to conform with international rights standards. It accuses protesters of rioting and wounding police.

The judge said the time Rajab has already spent in jail would count towards the sentence, Rajab's lawyer Mohammed al-Jishi said. Jishi said Rajab would lodge an appeal and it was not clear if he would be taken to jail or remain free.

"Every day there are a thousand people insulting a thousand people, this isn't logical. Normally the charge of insult leads to just a fine. So for me it's a surprise," Jishi said.

The prime minister, the uncle of King Hamad bin Isa, has been a lightning rod for the opposition who have demanded his ouster. But many Sunnis who fear empowering Shi'ite Islamists in the opposition see him as a key support.

The Arab uprisings have seen changes of leader in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen and Libya but Bahrain - a U.S. ally that hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet - imposed martial law to try to crush the uprising last year.

Washington has urged Manama to hold a dialogue with the opposition to end the unrest and hold officials accountable for rights violations uncovered in a probe led by international legal experts and published in November.

Source : Reuters , Youtube

www.shafaqna.com/english/