By Andrew Hammond and Rania El Gamal | Reuters – Sun, May 6, 2012

DUBAI, May 6 (Reuters) – Bahrain has arrested a prominent

human rights activist and critic of the country’s ruling family,

the Interior Ministry and an activist said on Sunday, as the

authorities escalated a crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.

Bahrain, which is ruled by a Sunni Muslim monarchy and

hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet, has been in turmoil since activists

mainly from the majority Shi’ite community began protests in

February 2011 after successful revolts in Egypt and Tunisia.

Police arrested Nabeel Rajab, head of the Bahrain Centre for

Human Rights (BCHR), on return from Beirut on Saturday evening,

Sayed Yousif Almuhafda said by telephone from Manama.

Prosecutors then questioned him extensively about his tweets

on social media platform Twitter before he was taken to court on

Sunday morning on previous charges of organising a protest

inside Manama in March, a member of the BCHR told Reuters.

“The police arrested him near the plane’s door. They said

they had an arrest warrant from the public prosecutions

office… At the prosecutor’s office, it was all about tweets,”

he said, adding it was not clear if the questioning about

messages on Twitter would lead to new charges.

Rajab shot to prominence last year when he became a

trenchant campaigner against the crackdown. With 140,000

followers on Twitter he is one of the most well-known online

activists in the Arab world.

Several hundred gathered outside Rajab’s home in Bani Jamra

west of Manama on Sunday evening, chanting “down with (king)

Hamad” and slogans demanding his release.

Rajab faced charges of “inciting illegal rallies and marches

online by using social networking websites” and posting

“defamatory and humiliating depictions of the public security

forces”, an Information Affairs Authority statement said.

The statement said his actions had provoked rioting but did

not say if that accusation would feature in official charges

against him.

“A police investigation also revealed that the defendant’s

cyber incitement proved detrimental to public security as it

fuelled rioting, road blocking, arson, acts of sabotage

targeting public and private properties, and the use of petrol

bombs and incendiary devices,” it said.

“Evidence has been compiled on the defendant’s role in

instigating online acts such as targeting policemen while on

duty that has resulted in serious injuries.”

It said Rajab refused to answer questions at the arraignment

because he did not recognise the court.

Authorities are also holding protest leader Zainab

al-Khawaja after she demonstrated alone on a major highway in

April. Prosecutors say she insulted women police officers.

Khawaja became a symbol for protesters after she was dragged

from a traffic roundabout in December by women riot police.

Both Rajab and Khawaja, daughter of jailed uprising leader

Abdulhadi al-Khawaja who is on a hunger strike, have been

detained briefly on several occasions in the past year but this

is the first time they were held with intent to press charges.

Justin Gengler, a Qatar-based researcher on Bahrain, said

arresting Rajab was an escalation that would please Sunni

hardliners who have harangued the government for not crushing

protests they view as a Shi’ite attempt to destabilise the

country.

“After mobilising Sunnis, the state can only appease them by

caving in to their demands for a harsher response to protesters

and activists,” he said.

INCITEMENT

The International Federation for Human Rights, in which

Rajab is deputy secretary general, condemned the arrest.

“The federation demands the immediate and unconditional

release of Rajab and other rights defenders, while it appears

that these judicial harassments aim to place blocks against

human rights activities,” the Paris-based group said.

Rajab and Khawaja have been a thorn in the government’s

side, organising peaceful protests inside Manama without

licences – in contrast to the leading opposition party Wefaq

which obtains Interior Ministry approval.

The marches in Manama have sometimes ended violently when

police fire tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the

protesters and youths throw back petrol bombs.

Their acts of civil disobedience have made them heroes to

many Bahraini opposition activists. Western activists, who were

eventually deported, joined Rajab for protests in February that

marked one year since the protest movement began.

Tensions have risen again since April when Bahrain’s Formula

One Grand Prix became a lightning rod for protesters and

visiting journalists turned their attention to an uprising that

has not gone away.

Analysts predicted that hardliners within the ruling family

would show their teeth after the Grand Prix, when Bahrain

stopped some journalists entering and deported a team from

Britain’s Channel Four for entering on tourist visas.

A statement on the state news agency warned clerics against

incitement to violence, sectarianism, harming the economy, and

insulting the judiciary and constitutional institutions –

comments apparently directed against leading Shi’ite cleric

Sheikh Isa Qassim who led a mass protest in March.

“The cabinet instructed ministries to take legal measures if

these violations continue, affirming its total rejection of any

bargaining over the nation’s security and unity,” BNA said.

King Hamad enacted constitutional reforms last week that

would boost the elected parliament’s powers of scrutiny over

ministers and budgets. But the government has not budged on the

key demand for a single chamber of parliament with full powers

to legislate and form governments.