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)
.

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Administrators released, status unclear
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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.

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Website blocked
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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.

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Support for freedom of expression
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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.

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Abdul Ghaffar: They broke the law
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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