Shia Researcher Arrested in Bahrain after Posting about Ashura

IQNA – Continuing its systematic restriction of freedom of expression and suppression of intellectuals and civil activists, the Manama regime has arrested a Shia researcher.

Al Khalifa regime officials arrested social researcher Fatima Haroun for publishing a view on Instagram about Ashura.

Bahrain’s interior ministry claimed on Thursday that her arrest was made on charges of abusing social networks and that the content she published included public insults to one of the Islamic schools of thought.

The Bahrain Prisoners’ Affairs Board condemned the arrest and considered it another link in the process of systematically restricting freedom of expression and suppressing intellectuals and civil activists in the country.

The charges brought against Fatima Haroun are among the general and vague charges that have been repeatedly used to prosecute critics and criminalize freedom of expression, it said in a statement.

According to the organization, the researcher’s actions were nothing more than exercising her natural right to express her opinion.

The statement also emphasized that the arrest of a well-known academic and social figure solely for publishing an opinion on the Internet indicates increased pressure on elites and intellectuals and an attempt to restrict the Internet and intensify security control over freedom of expression, a move that is in conflict with international human rights obligations and standards.

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