Bahraini award-winning photojournalist tortured, sentenced to jail, revoked citizenship

Award-winning Bahraini photojournalist Sayed Ahmed al-Mousawi had his 10-year prison sentence upheld on Wednesday by Manama’s court of appeals. The court also ruled to uphold his citizenship revocation.

Al-Mousawi was initially convicted in November 2015 on terrorism related charges after being subjected to torture, more than a year of arbitrary detention and other forms of mistreatment.

He was arrested in February 2014 after covering a series of anti-regime protests that year.

Last year, 16 non-governmental organizations including Reporters Without Borders (RSF) described Al-Mousawi’s case as “representative of the Bahraini government’s growing repression against basic civil rights.”

According to the RSF, 14 journalists and citizen-journalists are currently detained in Bahrain for broaching sensitive subjects.