Bahrain releases human rights activist

A leading human rights activist in Bahrain has been released after the Arab kingdom came under intense international pressure for its crackdown on dissent.

Amnesty International said on Friday that Sayed Yousif al-Muhafda, who was arrested in December last year at a protest rally, was released on a 270-US dollar bail.

Affiliated with the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, Muhafda, should appear before court on January 29.

He was arrested in Manama when he was taking pictures of violent clashes between police and demonstrators.

Muhafda is facing accusations of spreading false news to undermine national security.

The Bahraini regime has arrested many activists, politicians and medical personnel over the past months.

On January 7, Bahrain’s highest court upheld prison terms for 13 pro-democracy activists for their roles in anti-regime protests in 2011.

Since mid-February 2011, thousands of pro-democracy protesters have staged numerous demonstrations in the streets of Bahrain, calling for the Al Khalifa royal family to relinquish power.

On March 14, 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates invaded the country to assist the Bahraini government in its crackdown on the peaceful protesters.

According to local sources, scores of people have been killed and hundreds arrested.

Physicians for Human Rights says doctors and nurses have been detained, tortured, or disappeared because they have “evidence of atrocities committed by the authorities, security forces, and riot police” in the crackdown on anti-government protesters.