Nabeel Rajab, witness and victim to regime torture, disappeared from prison before Red Cross visits

Pro-democracy campaigner who witnessed torture of young political prisoners disappears on eve of Red Cross visit

Bahrain: Human Rights Activist Nabeel Rajab Missing from Prison
By Gianluca Mezzofiore – 15 May, 2013 – IB-Times

Prominent Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab has gone missing from his prison cell and moved to an unknown location, according to the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR).

Rajab, who has served 11 months of a two-year sentence for “encouraging illegal gatherings” during the 2011 uprising in the tiny Gulf island, called his wife on 14 May and told her that “he had witnessed the torture of young political prisoners at the hands of prison guards at Jaw prison”.

“He raised his voice telling them to stop, and when they realised that he had witnessed what was happening, they quickly left,” BCHR said in a statement.

“Nabeel Rajab asked his wife to request that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) visit him in prison so he can give them his testimony of what he had witnessed. Rajab’s wife received a phone call that evening informing her that Nabeel was reportedly removed from his cell that night by prison guards and was not returned.”

The 48-year-old has been at the forefront of the pro-democracy protests in the Gulf Kingdom and has more than 200,000 followers on Twitter.
Prison officials repeatedly refused him medical treatment for a back injury, according to his wife Sumaya Rajab. …more