Bahrain Defender, Sayed Yousif Al-Muhafdha, ‘did not attend protest in Diraz’ for which he was locked-up

Bahrain: Arbitrary detention of human rights defender Mr Sayed Yousif Al-Muhafdha
5 Novemebr, 2012 – Frontline Defenders

On 2 November 2012, prominent human rights defender Sayed Yousif Al-Muhafdha was arrested in the village of Diraz on charges of rioting and participating in illegal gathering.

The charges were brought in connection to a protest that took place the same day in Diraz and to which the human rights defender denied participating. He is currently detained in Hooth Al-Jaff Prison, in the Governorate of Muharraq. Sayed Yousif Al-Muhafdha is the acting vice president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR). BCHR is one of the three shortlisted nominees for the 2012 Martin Ennals Award.

On 2 November 2012, Sayed Yousif Al-Muhafdha went to the village of Diraz following reports of the violent dispersal of a protest by security forces. Once in Diraz, he was arrested outside the home of a man who had sustained injuries during the protest’s dispersal and whose case he intended to document. Following the arrest, Sayed Yousif Al-Muhafdha was questioned at Al-Badee police station about the purpose of his presence there. When fellow human rights defender Zainab Al-Khawaja arrived to the police station to collect him, later that day, she was told that he was not permitted to leave yet. He was then informed that he would be held overnight and would be taken to the Public Prosecution office the next morning. On 3 November, the Public Prosecution office ordered his detention for a period of seven days to allow completion of the investigation.

Sayed Yousif Al-Muhafdha’s arrest occurred three days after the BCHR published a report highlighting the climate of impunity for grave human rights violations committed by security officials. …source