UK court to decide on Bahrain spyware case, Saudis under scrutiny
Yesterday two Bahraini dissidents who accuse the Bahraini regime of using spyware to surveil them had their case hearing at the High Court in London. Saeed Shehabi and Moosa Mohammed, political activists living in the UK discovered that their computers were infected with FinSpy in September 2011, seven months after anti-government protests started in the country. The software, produced by UK-German company Gamma Group, can conduct live surveillance through a computer’s camera and microphone to access documents, emails and messages. The judge listened to the lawyers of both parties and has reserved the judgement. The lawyers of the khalifis attempted to use the diplomatic immunity card but the judge allowed the case to be heard. The judgement will set a precedent to other victims of hacking and surveillance by their governments.
The number of the political prisoners who have been infected with Covid-19 is steadily rising, while the officials have maintained a wall of silence on the crisis. Among the latest known to have been infected is the renowned human rights activist, Naji Fateel. He has not been allowed to call his family for the past two weeks since contracting the virus. Precautionary measures to stop the spread are minimal.
Fears are growing for the lives of Jaffar Sultan and Sadeq Thamer, sentenced to death by the Saudis. The youngest sister of Jaffar has called for his life to be spared. On 20th February the khalifi court extended the detention of the Sitra children one more week for the sixth time. This confirms the sham justice of the khalifi dictators. The judge rejected the lawyers’ request to release the children despite a pledge to bring them back upon request. Five of them have been detained since December 27, 2021.
A senior figure of the khalifi junta has openly revealed the extent of the cooperation between his family and Israel. Abdulla bin Ahmad al-khalifa said that MOSSAD is Active in Bahrain. His blatant statement caused major offence to the people who see the sovereignty of their country and the safety of the people have been severely compromised by the regime’s policy. No sovereign state will speak in this language or acknowledge its subservience to foreign powers. Bahrain’s rulers have decided to switch sides in the Palestinian conflict by joining the Israeli occupiers.
On Monday night, Ahmed Jaafar, the prisoner who was illegally deported from Serbia to Bahrain last month, was beaten up by a Jordanian policeman named Saddam. This crime happened at Bloc 4 of the notorious Jau Prison after he had refused to be transferred to a ward with drug offenders. Ahmed was forcibly transferred to Ward 3, Bloc 12 of Jau Prison – reserved for drug offenders. He is now suffering from severe pain in his chest due to the beating. Another Yemeni policeman told him “We will make you bleed and we don’t care”.
A young native Bahraini remains behind bars for engaging in a debate on women rights. Sayed Ali Al Mousawi was detained few days ago by the cyber crimes department who gave no reason for his detention. He had responded to a woman lawyer who called for giving wives the right of divorce.
Aya Majzoub, Lebanon and Bahrain researcher in the Middle East and North Africa Division of Human Rights Watch tweeted: Repression has become institutionalized, as authorities detain kids, place torture victims on death row, & continue to heavily restrict citizens’ most basic rights.
Reprieve, the NGO which campaigns against capital punishment has launched a fund raising campaign to defend Bahraini death row prisoners. It said: Maher, Mohammed and Husain, on death row in Bahrain, depend on people like you to help fight for them. But time may be running out for them. The number of people facing execution in Bahrain has increased by 2500% since 2011. These three men depend on Reprieve’s investigations, legal work and campaigns to expose the injustices they face, to fight for their human rights, and to tell the world their stories.
The Saudi human rights NGO, ALQST has confirmed that the Saudi authorities had sentenced lawyer Mut‘ib al-Amri to seven years in prison for his peaceful activism. Al-Amri, detained in Dhahban Prison since 2018, was subjected to severe physical and psychological torture. He was sentenced by the Specialised Criminal Court (SCC) to seven years in prison on charges of “inflaming public opinion, and criticising the symbols of the state” because of criticisms and calls for reform he posted on the Twitter account
Yesterday the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention published an opinion calling on the Saudi authorities to release Salman Al Saud and his father, following a complaint submitted by ALQST and MENA organisations. In their decision, the UN experts found that the princes’ detention had no legal basis and that they had been targeted “for their membership of the royal family, rather than for something they have done”
Bahrain Freedom Movement
23rd February 202