The Independent - Rebecca MacKinnon - The New York Times -
Locked up for reading a poem: the woman who symbolises Bahrain’s fight for freedom. The Independent front page 2nd June 2011
Like Syria, the government of Bahrain employs aggressive tactics to censor and monitor its people's online activity. Rebecca MacKinnon
The top United Nations human rights official on Tuesday called on the authorities in Bahrain to release the detained leader of the country’s main opposition group, in a high-level rebuke that appeared to reflect fears that his arrest could incite new bouts of civil unrest in the troubled Persian Gulf nation.
The opposition leader, Sheikh Ali Salman, who is the head of the main Shiite opposition al-Wefaq party, was taken into custody on Sunday. His detention was renewed for seven days on Tuesday, as prosecutors investigated charges, including that he had promoted ‘political change using illegal forceful means and threats’, according to a government statement. The New York Times online article 30th December 2014 Kareem Fahim, ‘Calls to Free Leading Cleric in Bahrain’