Bahrain Mirror: The Bahraini High Criminal Court, headed by Ali Khalifa Al-Dhahrani (June 25, 2018), sentenced Bahraini detainee Najah Al-Sheikh along with another to three years in prison for inciting hatred against the regime through social media outlets.

Head of the Public Prosecution said that Najah Al-Sheikh and the other defendant were convicted of promoting terrorist acts, possession and acquiring a recording device that was used or prepared to be used for broadcasting such promotion and favoring of the overthrow or change of the political system by illegitimate means, and thus sentenced to three years in prison over these charges.

For her part, activist Ebtisam Al-Sayegh said Najah Al-Sheikh was sentenced to three years imprisonment despite her complaint to the judge about her torture and sexual harassment.

The authorities accuse Al-Sheikh of running accounts on social networking sites, including publishing articles and videos that include "promoting terrorist acts, inciting hatred of the regime, collecting funds for organizing anti-government events and rallies," claiming that the other defendant helped Al-Sheikh manage the accounts she runs on social networking sites, and organized the events and prepared the anti-government political slogans. The authorities also allege that they spread "false and biased news about the situation in the Kingdom of Bahrain to be published on satellite channels" for the purpose of inciting hatred against the regime, promoting terrorist acts that occur in Bahrain, undermining the prestige of the state, harming its interests and distorting the kingdom's image abroad.

Arabic Version