One blogger in the Gulf country of Bahrain has been sentenced to life in prison while another has received 15 years, according to Reporters Without Borders. The life sentence is the longest sentence a blogger has ever received.
Blogger Dr. Abduljalil Al-Singace was one of eight imprisoned Bahrainis to receive life sentences. Al-Singace. Another blogger, Ali Abdulemam, was given 15 years after being tried in absentia.
Al-Singace, who was arrested last August upon his return to Bahrain from abroad, is the head of the civil society movement El Haq. He had been arrested previously.
Abdulemam, who was also the editor of a popular online message board, Bahrain Online, had been arrested several times over the years by the Bahraini government. He was arrested the last time in September of 2010 and freed in February of 2011.
Both men have reported torture at the hands of their jailers.
Twelve others arrested around the uprisings have been handed sentences of from two to 15 years.
The life sentence gives Al-Singace the unfortunate distinction of passing Hossein Derkahshan of Iran as the blogger who has received the longest jail sentence. Burma’s Nay Phone Latt had received a sentence of 20 years and six months, which was later reduced to 12 years.
To call these sentences outlandish and disproportionate would be something of an understatement.
Al-Singace photo via IFEX
