Bahraini woman activist Jailed for three months

A Bahraini court  sentenced Bahraini rights activist Zainab al-Khawaja to three months in jail for insulting a public employee after an appeal court overturned her earlier acquittal, Bahrain’s state news agency said on Friday.

Khawaja is the daughter of prominent human rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja who was a leading figure in the 2011 uprising and who is now serving a life sentence.

“The Court of Appeal on Friday  overturned an initial verdict acquitting Zainab al-Khawaja and sentenced her to three months in jail,”  Bahrain News Agency BNA said, citing Amina Isa, a chief prosecutor.

Bahrain’s public prosecutor had charged Khawaja with “insulting a public employee while on duty”, BNA added

The appeals court has previously sentenced Khawaja to one one-month and one two-month jail term in two other cases for entering a prohibited military zone and damaging state-owned property, the state news agency said.

The kingdom of Bahrain, base for the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, has been in political turmoil since protests erupted there in 2011, demanding an end to the monarchy’s political domination and full powers for parliament.

The Bahraini government admits that  35 people were killed  during the unrest in 2011 and two months of martial law that followed, although the opposition puts the toll at more than 80.

T. Fateh