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Bahrain cuts activist's sentence

December 11, 2012

Bahrain has reduced the jail sentence handed down to Nabeel Rajab, one of the leading figures in anti-government demonstrations in the country. However, the move was not welcomed by human rights activists.

https://p.dw.com/p/17089
epa03421307 (FILE) A file photo dated 28 May 2012 shows rights activist, Nabeel Rajab, (R) sitting with his mother Rabab Mohammed Jawad shortly after his release, at his home in Bani Jamrah village, north of Manama, Bahrain. Bahraini authorities on 04 October 2012 allowed Rajab, who is serving a three year sentence for protesting, and his 65-year-old uncle Mohammed Hassan Jawad, who is serving a 15 years sentence for his role in last year_s pro-reform protests, to attend the burial of Rabab Jawad who died in the early morning hours of 04 October. EPA/MAZEN MAHDI *** Local Caption *** 50361592 +++(c) dpa - Bildfunk+++
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

A Bahraini court on Tuesday cut the jail sentence imposed on rights activist Nabeel Rajab from three years to two, according to lawyers.

The reduction in the jail sentence was "completely hollow given that he shouldn't be serving any time in prison in the first place," said Philip Luther, Amnesty International's director for the Middle East and North Africa.

Rajab did “nothing wrong, except peacefully express his views. A two-year prison sentence, just like a three-year sentence, is an insult and an injustice that can only be rectified by releasing him," Luther added.

The Sunni-ruled gulf state's main Shiite opposition group, Al-Wefaq, said Rajab had "exercised his right to demonstrate peacefully" and demanded his release.

Rajab had been sentenced to three years in prison for leading protests against the al-Khalifa dynasty that rules Bahrain. He is also the founder of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights.

Protests in Bahrain have continued to occur sporadically since Shiite-led anti-government violence first broke out on February 14, 2011. That is despite a crackdown on anti-government demonstrations in March 2011.

According to the country's interior ministry, over 700 people, have been injured in the protests.

sej/pfd (AFP, Reuters)