WEBSITE ADMINISTRATORS RELEASED, STILL FACE CHARGES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 000374 SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARPI, DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/15/2015 TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL BA SUBJECT: WEBSITE ADMINISTRATORS RELEASED, STILL FACE CHARGES REF: A. MANAMA 363 ¶B. MANAMA 281 Classified By: Ambassador William T. Monroe for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) . -------------- Administrators released, status unclear -------------- ¶1. (C) Hours after Ali Abdul Imam, Sayed Mohammed Al Mousawi, and Hussein Yousef, administrators of the Bahrain On-Line website, refused a proposal by the public prosecutor to be released on BD 1000 bail (Ref A),the public prosecutor released them without bail on the condition that they not leave the country. The press reported that the public prosecutor was considering lifting the travel ban as well. (Note: One of the three is a student in Saudi Arabia and wants to return to his studies. End Note.) The charges against them, incitement against the government and spreading false rumors, remain in place. Close friends of the three said they did not know when the next hearing or trial will be held. Upon their release, the three went directly to the headquarters of the Al Wifaq political society. Their supporters vowed to continue holding demonstrations until all charges were officially dropped. -------------- Website blocked -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The press reported March 15 that Bahrain's government-run telecommunications company, Batelco, would permanently block the Bahrain On-Line website and remove all pictures and data considered defamatory and aimed at spreading false rumors. (Note: Batelco has blocked the site since 2002.) The administrators indicated that they would meet soon to decide what action they would take regarding the website. -------------- Support for freedom of expression -------------- ¶3. (C) Various political figures and human rights activists who spoke with EmbOffs were unanimous in their support of the administrators. Shura Council member Mansour Al Arrayed said freedom of expression must be protected and wondered why the GOB decided to detain the three, as this generated even more interest in websites that criticize the government. Several MPs seconded these comments. Abduljalil Singace, spokesman for the leading Shi'a opposition society Al Wifaq, told PolOff the release was a government tactic to keep people quiet in the period before Bahrain hosts thousands of international visitors for the Formula One races April 1-3. -------------- Abdul Ghaffar: They broke the law -------------- ¶4. (C) The Ambassador raised again on March 15 the issue of the three website administrators with Minister of Foreign Affairs / Minister of Information Mohammed Abdul Ghaffar, reminding him that any time actions are taken that involve issues of human rights or free speech, it raises cautionary flags in Washington and among human rights organizations. This has indeed happened in this case, and people in Washington are raising concerns. Abdul Ghaffar responded that this is not a democracy or freedom of speech issue. People are free to criticize the government in the newspapers, in seminars, or on websites run through Batelco. The issue here is not that they criticized the government, but that they used defamatory language, including accusations against innocent people. In doing this, they broke laws, and are being tried in the courts. The intention is to show young people that if you want to express opinions, you can do it through legal channels. The fact that the accused ran their website from abroad, and not through Batelco, shows that they did not have good intentions, he said. ¶5. (C) Continuing, Abdul Ghaffar said that national unity is very important in Bahrain. People can't be allowed to create disunity in Bahrain. Writing letters or articles to divide society or create crises is not good for a new democracy. We have Hizbollah in Bahrain. We have people who want to create problems between Sunnis and Shi'as, and people who have their own agendas. MONROE