Bahrain: Jailed Activists Freed Following Human Rights Watch Objections

After Human Rights Watch and local organizations denounced the detention of two political activists in Bahrain, Mohamed Sa`id al-Sahlawi and Husain `Abd al-`Aziz al-Hibshi were freed and granted a royal pardon on February 25, 2007. The men had been arrested, tried, and sentenced to prison terms by a Lower Criminal Court for possessing leaflets calling for peaceful political change, despite protections of free expression in the Bahraini constitution. Human Rights Watch has pressed the Bahraini government on numerous occasions to end the persistent harassment of human rights advocates. We continue to advocate on behalf of Bahraini activists and grassroots organizations in the hope that they may one day operate without fear of government retaliation.