The hearing for the Al-Wasat journalists, one being tried in absentia since he was deported, is one of the few cases linked to the unrest being held in a civilian court. It was adjourned to June 19.

The defendants, including the paper’s former editor in chief, are out on bail. They said they were surprised at the decision, adding it signaled the case was being treated fairly.

International rights groups have accused Bahrain of targeting journalists in a crackdown on the opposition after it crushed anti-government protests earlier this year using martial law and troops from neighboring Gulf states.

Opposition groups say hundreds of people have been put on trial, mostly in military court, on charges of illegal actions during the protests. Officials say the number is far less.

US-based Human Rights Watch estimates 82 people have received verdicts so far and only five have been acquitted.

Bahrain’s rulers say the protests in February and March had a sectarian agenda backed by Iran. The opposition denies this.

Leading rights activist Nabeel Rajab said lawyers in the military trials have had difficulty submitting evidence because witnesses are often reluctant to step forward for fear of detention. Many say they have been abused in detention.

“They are too afraid of being targeted afterward, so we rarely have had witnesses in these trials,” he said. Some relatives of the defendants argued that the journalists’ trial, good or bad, was a moot point as the journalists had already lost their jobs at Al-Wasat.

“They can treat them well now because they already got what they wanted, they destroyed the paper,” one relative said.

Al-Wasat was briefly suspended after being accused of falsifying six news articles, but began publishing again after its Editor in Chief Mansoor Al-Jamri and two other men on trial — British Managing Editor Walid Noueihed and Bahraini head of local news Aqeel Mirza — resigned in April.

The journalists have pleaded not guilty to the charges of fabricating news and intent to cause instability. If convicted, they can face a fine or up to two years in prison.

Jamri acknowledged that six false articles appeared in Al-Wasat.

Jamri told reporters after Wednesday’s hearing that the defense presented three pieces of evidence to show the paper was in contact with the king and other top officials, in addition to letters to the Interior Ministry asking for help after its offices were attacked in March.

Late on Tuesday, Bahrain vowed to sue the British newspaper the Independent, accusing it of “defamation and a premeditated media campaign” against the Gulf kingdom, citing articles by journalist Robert Fisk.