Nabeel Rajab was on trial for posting tweets that were critical of the Bahraini government. He had denounced the alleged use of torture in Bahraini prisons and abuses in Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen.
Nabeel Rajab was a leading figure in the pro-democracy uprising in 2011 in BahrainImage: picture-alliance/epa/Mazen Mahdi
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High-profile Bahraini activist Nabeel Rajab was sentenced on Wednesday to five years in prison for posting critical comments about the government on Twitter, his lawyer and the Bahrain Center for Human Rights confirmed.
Rajab was charged with "insulting a neighboring country" and "insulting national institutions" in tweets alleging prison torture in Bahrain and misconduct in Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen.
The 53-year-old was already in prison for prior convictions and held in solitary confinement. Human rights groups had warned about Rajab's deteriorating health. The activist had been hospitalized multiple times in recent years over a heart problem and ulcers.
Rajab's Twitter account posted that the activist arrived in court with a "cheerful smile" and raised his hands, making a peace sign after his sentence was read.
In and out of jail
Rajab was a leading figure in the 2011 pro-democracy protests against the ruling Sunni monarchy, when the country was swept by the regional Arab Spring protest movement. Sunnis are in a minority in the small island nation.
In 2012, he was sentenced to three years in prison for allegedly fomenting clashes between police and protesters in the 2011 demonstrations.
Authorities released Rajab two years into his sentence, in May 2014, but the activist was again detained in June 2016 over the critical comments about torture in prisons and the Saudi-backed Yemeni war. The trial, which today ended with his 5-year prison sentence, was widely condemned internationally.
Additionally, in July 2017, Bahraini authorities put him on trial for allegedly spreading false information during interviews he gave to regional television channels, in which Rajab discussed the country's internal situation in 2015 and 2016.
Representatives from the US, British, French, and German embassies in Bahrain attended Rajab's court hearing on Wednesday.
US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert had said on Tuesday, in anticipation of the sentencing, that Washington had "very serious concerns" about the case against Rajab, whom she called "a prominent human rights activist."
Before his involvement in the 2011 pro-democracy demonstrations, Rajab was known for founding the Bahrain Human Rights Society and Migrant Workers Protection Group to promote better treatment of migrant laborers in Arab states.
Yemen: An ever-worsening crisis
Yemen has struggled to cope with crises prompted by its atrocious civil war, including catastrophic hunger and devastating cholera outbreaks. DW examines the conflict and how it affects the country's civilian population.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Mohammed
War: The 'root cause' of Yemen's disasters
The UN has identified conflict as the "root cause" of Yemen's crises. Tens of thousands of people have been killed since the war erupted in 2014, when Shiite Houthi rebels launched a campaign to capture the capital, Sanaa. In March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition launched a deadly campaign against the rebels, one that has been widely criticized by human rights groups for its high civilian death toll.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Mohammed
Fighting keeps food from the famished
The conflict has prevented humanitarian aid from reaching large parts of the civilian population, resulting in more than two-thirds of the country's 28 million people being classified as "food insecure." Nearly 3 million children and pregnant or nursing women are acutely malnourished, according to the UN World Food Program.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Mohammed
Displacement: Converging crises
More than 3 million people have been displaced by conflict, including marginalized communities such as the "Muhammasheen," a minority tribe that originally migrated from Africa. Despite the civil war, many flee conflict in Somalia and head to Yemen, marking the convergence of two major migration crises in the Middle East nation. Yemen hosts around 250,000 Somali refugees, according to UNHCR.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Mohammed
Cholera: A deadly epidemic
The number of suspected cholera cases has exceeded more than 2 million and least 3,700 people have died from the waterborne bacterial infection in Yemen since October 2019, said the WHO. Although cholera can be easily treated, it can kill within hours when untreated.
Image: Reuters/K. Abdullah
Unsuspecting victims of the'war on terror'
In Yemen, violence goes beyond civil conflict: It is considered a strategic front in the war on terrorism. The country serves as the operational base for al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, dubbed the "most dangerous" terrorist group before the rise of the "Islamic State." The US routinely uses drones to target al-Qaida leadership. However, civilians have often been killed in the operations.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Y. Arhab
Children's fate: Future marred by tragedy
In a country paralyzed by conflict, children are one of the most at-risk groups in Yemen. More than 12 million children require humanitarian aid, according to the UN humanitarian coordination agency. The country's education system is "on the brink of collapse," while children are dying of "preventable causes like malnutrition, diarrhea and respiratory tract infections," according to the agency.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Mohammed
Peace: An elusive future
Despite several attempts at UN-backed peace talks, the conflict continues to rage on. Saudi Arabia has vowed to continue supporting the internationally recognized government of Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. On the other hand, Houthi rebels have demanded the formation of a unity government in order to move forward on a political solution. A peace deal, however, remains elusive.
