The Chairs of the European Parliament’s Sub-committee on Human Rights, Maria Arena (S&D, Belgium), and of the Delegation for relations with the Arabian Peninsula, Hannah Neumann (Greens/EFA, Germany), and the spokesperson for the European External Action Service (EEAS), welcomed the release of Bahraini human rights defender Nabeel Rajab on Wednesday 10 June.
Sentenced to five years in prison for criticising on social networks the Saudi bombings in Yemen (see EUROPE 11967/20), his sentence was adjusted and he was released from prison on 9 June.
While describing the release as “very good news”, Mrs Arena and Mrs Neumann recalled that Mr Rajab should never have been convicted. “It is the duty of every State to protect human rights defenders against any arbitrary action taken against the legitimate exercise of fundamental freedoms such as freedom of expression”, they stressed.
For his part, the EEAS spokesperson recalled that the EU had been following Mr Rajab's case closely, “calling on the Bahraini authorities to release him and all others detained for expressing their views and exercising their fundamental rights or defending the rights of others”. He advised that the EU would continue to cooperate with Bahrain to uphold fundamental rights and freedoms. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)