Bahrain jails woman and man over anti-regime posts

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A Bahraini court on Monday sentenced a woman, believed to be activist Najah Ahmed Yousif, and man to three years in jail over social media use, the public prosecution said.

The woman was convicted for managing accounts on social networking sites "which published articles and videos promoting terrorist acts, incited hatred against the governing regime and collected funds to organise anti-government events", Issa Al Rowaie, acting chief prosecutor for terrorist crimes, was quoted as saying in a statement.

The man was found guilty of helping her to run those social media accounts.

Together, "they broadcast false and biased news" about conditions in Bahrain and "promoted terrorist acts" in the kingdom, the prosecution statement said, without specifying the acts.

The two individuals were not named.

Hours earlier, the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) issued a statement condemning the verdict and naming the woman as political activist Najah Ahmed Yousif.

It said Yousif had been targeted on "politically motivated charges" after criticising the kingdom's hosting of the 2017 Bahrain Grand Prix.

Yousif has been held in detention since April 2017, according to BIRD.

The Bahraini rights group says the activist faced psychological pressure, with threats to her sons, was sexually assaulted and threatened with rape during her initial four-day interrogation.

It alleged Yousif had been coerced into signing a "pre-prepared" confession.

Tiny but strategic Bahrain has a Shiite Muslim majority but is ruled by a Sunni royal family that dominates all top government posts.

It has been gripped by civil unrest since 2011, when authorities bloodily crushed protests calling for a constitutional monarchy and an elected prime minister.

Bahrain accuses Shiite Iran of stoking protests among its population in a bid to overthrow the government — a charge Tehran denies.

The kingdom's ongoing crackdown has seen both religious and secular opposition groups banned and dozens of high-profile clerics and activists thrown behind bars.

Bahrain's courts have come under heavy criticism from human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, for failing to meet the standards of fair trials.