US embassy cable - 05MANAMA374

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 000374 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARPI, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/15/2015 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, PREL, BA 
SUBJECT: WEBSITE ADMINISTRATORS RELEASED, STILL FACE CHARGES 
 
REF: A. MANAMA 363 
 
     B. MANAMA 281 
 
Classified By: Ambassador William T. Monroe for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
. 
 
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Administrators released, status unclear 
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1.  (C) Hours after Ali Abdul Imam, Sayed Mohammed Al 
Mousawi, and Hussein Yousef, administrators of the Bahrain 
On-Line website, refused a proposal by the public prosecutor 
to be released on BD 1000 bail (Ref A), the public prosecutor 
released them without bail on the condition that they not 
leave the country.  The press reported that the public 
prosecutor was considering lifting the travel ban as well. 
(Note: One of the three is a student in Saudi Arabia and 
wants to return to his studies.  End Note.)  The charges 
against them, incitement against the government and spreading 
false rumors, remain in place.  Close friends of the three 
said they did not know when the next hearing or trial will be 
held.  Upon their release, the three went directly to the 
headquarters of the Al Wifaq political society.  Their 
supporters vowed to continue holding demonstrations until all 
charges were officially dropped. 
 
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Website blocked 
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2.  (SBU) The press reported March 15 that Bahrain's 
government-run telecommunications company, Batelco, would 
permanently block the Bahrain On-Line website and remove all 
pictures and data considered defamatory and aimed at 
spreading false rumors.  (Note: Batelco has blocked the site 
since 2002.)  The administrators indicated that they would 
meet soon to decide what action they would take regarding the 
website. 
 
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Support for freedom of expression 
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3.  (C) Various political figures and human rights activists 
who spoke with EmbOffs were unanimous in their support of the 
administrators.  Shura Council member Mansour Al Arrayed said 
freedom of expression must be protected and wondered why the 
GOB decided to detain the three, as this generated even more 
interest in websites that criticize the government.  Several 
MPs seconded these comments.  Abduljalil Singace, spokesman 
for the leading Shi'a opposition society Al Wifaq, told 
PolOff the release was a government tactic to keep people 
quiet in the period before Bahrain hosts thousands of 
international visitors for the Formula One races April 1-3. 
 
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Abdul Ghaffar: They broke the law 
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4.  (C) The Ambassador raised again on March 15 the issue of 
the three website administrators with Minister of Foreign 
Affairs / Minister of Information Mohammed Abdul Ghaffar, 
reminding him that any time actions are taken that involve 
issues of human rights or free speech, it raises cautionary 
flags in Washington and among human rights organizations. 
This has indeed happened in this case, and people in 
Washington are raising concerns.  Abdul Ghaffar responded 
that this is not a democracy or freedom of speech issue. 
People are free to criticize the government in the 
newspapers, in seminars, or on websites run through Batelco. 
 The issue here is not that they criticized the government, 
but that they used defamatory language, including accusations 
against innocent people.  In doing this, they broke laws, and 
are being tried in the courts.  The intention is to show 
young people that if you want to express opinions, you can do 
it through legal channels.   The fact that the accused ran 
their website from abroad, and not through Batelco, shows 
that they did not have good intentions, he said. 
 
5.  (C) Continuing, Abdul Ghaffar said that national unity is 
very important in Bahrain.   People can't be allowed to 
create disunity in Bahrain.  Writing letters or articles to 
divide society or create crises is not good for a new 
democracy.  We have Hizbollah in Bahrain.  We have people who 
want to create problems between Sunnis and Shi'as, and people 
who have their own agendas. 
MONROE