Nabeel Rajab

Blog: https://twitter.com/#!/NABEELRAJAB

Location: Manama, Bahrain

26° 13' 0.0012" N, 50° 34' 59.9988" E

Status: Under Arrest
Arrested on 06 Jun 2012

Other arrests: May 5, 2012

Bio Nabeel Rajab is an activist and the founder of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BHCR), as well as an active Twitter user. Over the past two years, he has been continuously threatened and harassed by Bahraini authorities for his support of the country's opposition movement. Rajab has been lauded for his use of social media for human rights promotion and as such was listed in Forbes' 2011 Top 100 Arabs on Twitter list, ranked #43 with 36,040 followers (a number that has since increased to over 150,000).

Following the start of protests in Bahrain in 2011, Rajab was attacked numerous times. In March 2011, his house was broken into and his computer and other files confiscated. In January 2012 he was beaten, allegedly by security forces. He is regularly maligned online by regime supporters.

Activism Rajab was first arrested on May 5, 2012 in Bahrain's airport after arriving from Lebanon, just one day before a scheduled hearing regarding a march he had attended in March. Rajab had, just prior to his arrest, appeared on Julian Assange's talk show, a factor which Assange stated he believes contributed to Rajab's arrest. Numerous groups, including Amnesty International, designated Rajab a prisoner of conscience, calling for his immediate release. After being released on bail, he was then arrested again on June 6 on charges of "insulting in public" after tweeting for Bahrain's rulers to step down. On July 10, he was sentenced to three months in prison for posting a tweet criticizing Bahrain's rulers.

Amnesty International has launched a campaign calling for his liberation.

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