26th February 2013

BAHRAIN MEDIA ROUNDUP

BAHRAIN COURT CLEARS 2 POLICE IN PROTESTER DEATH
A defense lawyer in Bahrain says a court has acquitted two policemen charged in the shooting death of a protester at the beginning of the 2-year-old uprising in the Gulf nation. Tuesday's decision could stir more clashes in the strategic kingdom, which is home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet. It comes just two days after an appeals court conrmed the acquittal of two other policemen in the deaths of two protesters in February 2011. More than 60 people have been killed in unrest in Bahrain, where majority Shiites seeking a greater political voice are confronting the Sunni-run leadership. Read More for unspecied reasons, just days after the UAE refused entry to Kristian Ulrichsen, of the London School of Economics, who was scheduled to speak about Bahrain at a conference on the Arab spring, which has unsettled all the region's conservative monarchies. Mansour al-Jamri, editor of the Bahraini newspaper alWasat, was refused entry at Dubai international airport along with his wife, Reem Khalifa, an Associated Press correspondent. Read More Kristian Coates Ulrichsen into the sisterly United Arab Emirates on February 23, 2013 purportedly to participate at a conference organized by the American University of Sharjah in association with the London School of Economics and Political Science to promote false and incorrect views regarding the situation in Bahrain. Read More sustained during earlier clashes with police.

Two Bahrain policemen acquitted of killing Shiite protester

A Bahraini court today acquitted two policemen who were charged with shooting dead a Shiite protester two years ago. The Higher Criminal Court said that "as interior ministry employees, the two policemen red shotguns at the victim Fadhel Matruk without intending to kill

him," wrote the lawyer Mohammed Al Jishi wrote on his Twitter account. Mr Al Jishi represented the protester's family in the case. Matruk died on February 15, 2011, from wounds sustained during a police crackdown on protesters who remained camped in central Manama for one month before authorities completely rased their camp in March of that year. Read More

Gulf states accused of co-ordinated crackdown on dissent

Nervous Gulf states appear to be co-ordinating a crackdown on critics in the media and academic world as well as on political activists who challenge the status quo and protest about human rights abuses. Two leading Bahraini journalists were blocked from entering the United Arab Emirates on Monday

Western academician barred over Bahrain remarks: UAE

Authorities in the United Arab Emirates said on Monday that a Western academician was barred from entering the Gulf state following his strong criticism of the monarchy in neighbouring Bahrain. Kristian Coates Ulrichsen was stopped on Friday from entering the UAE where he

was supposed to deliver a paper on Bahrain at a conference organised by the American University of Sharjah and his institute, the London School of Economics and Politics (LSE), the UAE foreign ministry said. Ulrichsen has consistently propagated views delegitimising the Bahraini monarchy, the ministry was quoted as saying by WAM state news agency. Read More

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs commends the stance of the United Arab Emirates
The Kingdom of Bahrain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has commended the action taken by the United Arab Emirates in denying entry to

Bahrain protesters demand release of comrade's body

Protests were held in opposition-heavy villages across Bahrain on Tuesday as demonstrators demanded that the government release the body of a 20-year-old who died last week from injuries

Mahmud al-Jaziri succumbed to his wounds after he was shot during demonstrations commemorating the second anniversary of the Gulf kingdoms 2011 uprising. The protesters are calling for al-Jaziri's body to be released for burial. Read More

Bahrain's US-Backed Crackdown on 2-Year Uprising

Video Watch here A ban on orders of the mask which was popularized by the 2005 Hollywood adaption of the comic book V for Vendetta' has been ordered by the Gulf kingdoms Industry and Commerce Minister, Hassan Fakhro. The decision was carried out following a request by the countrys Interior Ministry, which said the move was in the "public interest," Bahrains Ofcial Gazette reports. Read More safety as a factor behind the decision to ban the import of revolution masks. The Guy Fawkes mask, which became iconic thanks to its use in the 2006 movie V for Vendetta, has become an international symbol of anarchism and revolution. It is also an emblem of thehacktivist group Anonymous. Read More

THE ROYALS NEW RULES: BACKSLIDING IN BAHRAIN

The AlKhalifas of Bahrain, the Sunni family which has lorded over the Shiamajority population since 1783, has a long history of thwarting revolutionary uprisings. Theyve recently added ve new tactics to their repertoire. My own experience with their new strategy happened on January 29, when I landed at the airport in Manama.

Bahrain bans 'Anonymous' Guy Fawkes mask

The Guy Fawkes mask which has come to represent a universal symbol of protest has been banned in Bahrain. The move is the latest in a series of measures implemented by the Gulf state to quell a two-year pro-democracy uprising.

Although wary of the fact that a number of journalists, NGOs, European MPs, and activists had been denied entry into Bahrain, I thought I was low prole enough to get in. Other than speaking about Bahrain at a few small academic conferences, I didnt think I had done anything to earn a spot on anyones blacklist. And thanks to the glacially slow nature of academic publishing, my research on Bahrain had not yet appeared in print. Read More

Face off: Bahraini protestors no longer Anonymous

Bahrain has banned Guy Fawkes masks, in an apparent bid to further stie opposition protests in the wealthy Gulf state. A document issued by the Bahraini Ministry of Industry and Commerce on Thursday cited public

V for Vendetta: Bahrain imposes ban on Guy Fawkes masks

In an unusual move, the Bahraini government has banned the imports of something most people would nd to be innocent, the Guy Fawkes mask, worn in the 2005 Hollywood movie V for vendetta because it was seen as symbol of an uprising against the countrys rulers. The Gulf Kingdoms Industry and Commerce Minister, Hassan Fakhro,

ordered a block on importing the facial garb, and anyone found importing could be put in detention. This is all due to the fact that antigovernment protestors have been using them to remain anonymous. The historical mask has been used in street demonstrations around the world, from the Occupy Wall street movement in the United States and UK to the Arab Spring revolutions that toppled strongmen in the likes of Muammar Qadda and Hosni Mubarak. Read More