MANAMA, 1 March 2005 — In the first case of its kind in the region, Bahraini authorities ordered the detention of an Internet webmaster for 15 days as they began to investigate him on charges of inciting hatred against the government and spreading false information that could jeopardize state security.
Ali Abdul Imam, 27, who was remanded into police custody after more than a five-hour appearance at the public prosecutor late on Sunday night, also faces charges of insulting the monarchy and violating print and publishing laws, according to his lawyer Ahmed Al-Arrayed.
Abdul Imam’s sister, 32, who is a teacher also had appeared at the public prosecutor on accusations of facilitating the establishment of the website, because her mobile number appeared in a forum used to register the site, but she was not detained.
“The public prosecutor had presented him with a number of printed statements from the forum posted under different names as evidence against him,” Al-Arrayed said.
“They also presented him with the application he had filled to open the site with a US company accusing him of using the phone number that appeared on it to establish the forum”. Al-Arrayed said that his client denied the charges.
He also said that his client regularly maintains the forum to remove offensive material, indicating that it was impossible to prevent offensive material from appearing before it is posted because of the automated nature of the forum.
Abdul Imam’s Internet discussion forum www.bahrainonline.org that was established in 1998, has been at the center of controversy for a number of years for its political and social discussions that some had accused of being prejudicial and provocative.
A spokesman for bahrainonline said they were planning to organize a number of protests with one expected in front of the public prosecutor’s office to protest the detention of Abdul Imam.
A senior Bahraini official, who wished not to be identified, refuted claims that the charges were politically motivated.
This is the first time that authorities bring charges against a webmaster in Bahrain, but it is not the first time they try to prosecute individuals for serious offenses based on material posted on the Internet.
