DUBAI: A prominent activist in Bahrain held for over seven months on charges stemming from a series of tweets was released on bail Wednesday, though he still may face prison time.
A Bahraini court ordered the release of Nabeel Rajab pending his trial on charges of spreading false information and posting insults online, a judicial source said.
The decision follows repeated requests to release Rajab, 52, who suffered recurring health problems.
Nabeel Rajab, who provoked Bahrain’s 2011 protests, walked out of court after a lengthy hearing, defense lawyer Jalila Sayed said. The court postponed his trial to Jan. 23 to continue the trial, the source said, adding that Rajab attended the hearing.
“Nabeel is overall weak because of so many health problems he started facing, including heart problems and other physical issues,” Sayed told The Associated Press. “He’s under tremendous stress because of this length of detention.”
Rajab was arrested in June over a series of messages posted to his Twitter account about the ongoing Saudi-led war in Yemen, as well as allegations of torture by authorities at a local prison.
He separately faces a charge over a letter published by The New York Times during his incarceration, while another ongoing investigation focuses on a letter recently published by the French newspaper Le Monde.
In Wednesday’s hearing, Sayed said she believes the court granted bail because a witness for the prosecution couldn’t specifically prove that Rajab had control of the Twitter account in his name, nor show he sent the tweets in question.
“We hope this will end with an acquittal because the case has no evidence,” the lawyer said.
Bahraini officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bahrain, off the coast of Saudi Arabia, is home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet and an under-construction British naval base.
The human rights activist, who had been pardoned for health reasons last year, was re-arrested in June and is on trial on a list of charges.
He is also accused of “spreading false news and rumors and inciting propaganda during wartime which could undermine the war operations by the Bahraini armed forces and weaken the nation,” according to state media.
Bahrain is part of a Saudi-led coalition battling Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Rajab has been repeatedly detained for organizing protests and publishing tweets deemed insulting to Bahrain’s authorities.
He previously served two years in jail on charges of taking part in unauthorized protests in the Kingdom.
Bahrain court frees activist pending trial
Bahrain court frees activist pending trial
Israel’s hostage forum releases AI-generated video of last Gaza captive
- The Gaza ceasefire, which came into effect in October, remains fragile with both sides alleging violations, and mediators fearing that Israel and Hamas alike are stalling
JERUSALEM: An Israeli group representing the families of Gaza hostages released on Tuesday an AI-generated video of Ran Gvili, the last captive whose body is still being held in the Palestinian territory.
The one-minute clip, created whole cloth using artificial intelligence, purports to depict Gvili as he sits in a Gaza tunnel and appeals to US President Donald Trump to help bring his body back to Israel.
“Mr President, I’m asking you to see this through: Please bring me home. My family deserves this. I deserve the right to be buried with honor in the land I fought for,” says the AI-generated image of Gvili.
Gvili was 24 at the time of Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
He was an officer in Israel’s Yasam elite police unit and was on medical leave when he learnt of the attack.
He decided to leave his home and brought his gun to counter the Hamas militants.
He was shot in the fighting at the Alumim kibbutz before he was taken to Gaza.
Israeli authorities told Gvili’s parents in January 2024 that he had not survived his injuries.
The AI clip was released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the main group representing those taken captive to Gaza.
The Forum said it was published with the approval of Gvili’s family.
“Seeing and hearing Rani speak in his own voice is both moving and heartbreaking. I would give anything to hear, see and hold him again,” Gvili’s mother Talik said, quoted by the Forum.
“But all I can do now is plead that they don’t move to the next phase of the agreement before bringing Rani home — because we don’t leave heroes behind.”
The Gaza ceasefire, which came into effect in October, remains fragile with both sides alleging violations, and mediators fearing that Israel and Hamas alike are stalling.
In the first stage, Palestinian militants were expected to return all of the remaining 48 living and dead hostages held in Gaza.
Since the ceasefire came into effect on October 10, militants have released 47 hostages.
In the next stages of the truce, Israel is supposed to withdraw from its positions in Gaza, an interim authority is to govern the Palestinian territory instead of Hamas, and an international stabilization force is to be deployed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet Trump in Florida later this month to discuss the second phase of the deal.
