Bahrain Mirror: Bahrain's prosecution on Thursday extended by two weeks the detention of Shiite opposition leader Nabil Rajab over spreading "false information" about the Sunni-ruled kingdom, his lawyer said, according to AFP.

The human rights activist "was interrogated by the prosecution, who decided to extend his pre-trial detention by 15 days over the accusation of spreading rumors and false information," Mohammed al-Jishi said.

This accusation is linked to television interviews given by Rajab in 2014 and 2015, the lawyer said, adding a request to free him had been rejected.

On December 28, the prosecution said Rajab would remain in custody to be questioned over "spreading false news about the situation in the kingdom", despite being granted bail in another case over tweets deemed hostile to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, for which the next hearing is on January 23.

The Public Prosecution however, ruled that Rajab remains in prison for a week, before extending his detention to 2 weeks pending investigation.

The Kingdom of Bahrain has been witnessing unrest since the crackdown against the February 2011 uprising, led by the Shiite majority demanding a constitutional regime.

Rajab is facing a 15-year prison verdict for charges related to taking part in assembly, or calling for protesting against the regime in Bahrain. Several rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have pressed Bahrain's authorities to release Rajab, a co-founder and president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights.

Arabic Version