Prominent Bahrain rights activist Rajab released from prison

He separately received a two-year prison sentence over television interviews he gave that included criticisms of Bahrain, a small island-nation off Saudi Arabia that's home to the US Navy's 5th Fleet.It was unclear how much time Rajab has left to serve.

Bahrain freed a prominent human rights activist on Tuesday amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, allowing him to serve out the remainder of his internationally criticized prison sentence from home. Nabeel Rajab, 55, wore a garland of white roses after his release, smiling while posing with his family for the first time since being detained in June 2016.

Rajab will serve out the reminder of his prison term at home, his family said. Bahrain's government did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press. Rajab was a major figure in Bahrain's 2011 protests that saw tens of thousands from the country's majority Shiite population and others demand greater rights from the Sunni-led monarchy. He is also the co-founder and president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights and a founding director of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights.

Troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates helped Bahrain violently suppress the protests. Rajab received a five-year prison sentence over tweets alleging torture at one of the country's prisons and criticism of the Saudi-led war in Yemen. He separately received a two-year prison sentence over television interviews he gave that included criticisms of Bahrain, a small island-nation off Saudi Arabia that's home to the US Navy's 5th Fleet.

It was unclear how much time Rajab has left to serve. Bahrain's constitution guarantees its citizens freedom of speech. However, Rajab was prosecuted under laws making it illegal to offend a foreign country, spread rumours at wartime or “insult” a government agency. That drew international criticism from activists, as well as the United Nations' Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

“Mr Rajab's political views and convictions are clearly at the centre of the present case and that the authorities have displayed an attitude towards him that can only be characterised as discriminatory," the panel said in 2018. "He has been the target of persecution, including deprivation of liberty, for many years and there is no other explanation for this except that he is exercising his right to express such views and convictions." In the years since the 2011 protests, Bahrain has dismantled opposition groups, imprisoned activists and revoked the citizenship of over 700 people. Amid the crackdown, local Shiite militant groups have carried out small attacks on security forces. The US under President Barack Obama had held up approving a multibillion-dollar sale of F-16 fighter jets over human rights concerns in Bahrain. The Trump administration later approved the sale without those concerns being addressed.

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