Bahrain Mirror: SALAM for Democracy and Human Rights called on the Bahraini government "to respect the principles of freedom of the press and to guarantee the freedom of journalists to perform their duties without fear of intimidation or persecution."

The organization condemned on the "World Press Freedom Day" the regime's arbitrarily and unfairly use of criminal liability against journalists and accusing them of committing crimes such as incitement, hate speech, and insulting public institutions and bodies.

It stressed that "the journalists who violate the provisions of Articles 68 to 75 of the press law face criminal charges and imprisonment. In addition, the judiciary uses Article 11 of the Terrorist Act Law no. (58) as a discretionary tool to detain and imprison journalists and activists on terrorism-related charges."

The penal code is also used to prosecute Bahraini journalists, through more than 30 articles in it that stipulate imprisonment and criminal fines. Journalists who write about sensitive or opposition issues are often targeted under these laws, facing imprisonment or heavy fines.

Salam called on the Bahraini government to issue a modern press law, refrain from prosecuting journalists on terrorism related charges for carrying out their work under the Penal Code and amend the Press Law to lift criminal liability from journalists for carrying out their work, thus preventing their imprisonment.

It also demanded the establishment of an independent syndicate for journalists, whose function is to represent them, defend them and improve their conditions and restore the citizenship of the four journalists whose nationalities were revoked.

Arabic Version