Bahrain activist says charge over tweets ‘vindictive’
The following excerpt was taken from The Daily Star. For more, click here.
Prominent Bahraini rights activist Nabeel Rajab told a court on Wednesday that a charge that he tweeted insults against the government were "vindictive," as dozens of lawyers turned up to defend him.
"The charge against me is vindictive and is due to my rights activism," Rajab told a judge at Manama's Minor Criminal Court, insisting the decision to arrest and try him was political, according to witnesses.
"I only practiced my right to free expression. I did not commit a crime. The decision to arrest me and put me on trial was a political decision," he said.
More than 50 lawyers, both men and women, gathered at the court to defend Rajab, who has been leading protests following a brutal crackdown on Shiite-led demonstrations against the Sunni Al-Khalifa dynasty in March 2011.
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