Summary: Bahraini authorities release human rights defender Zainab al-Khawaja from prison

31st May 2016, Bahrain: Zainab al-Khawaja has been released from prison on “humanitarian grounds” and in the interests of her 17-month-old son whom she kept with her throughout the imprisonment.

Opposition activist al-Khawaja was first imprisoned in March of 2016. In spite of her release the original charges stand, and there is a threat that she could be returned to prison. She was sentenced to a total of three years and one month in prison on a variety of charges, including two sentences for ripping a picture of Bahrain’s monarch and one year in prison for allegedly “insulting” a police officer.

This is an update of previous coverage of Zainab al-Khawaja’s arrest, which was published on 18th March 2016.

See attached statement by SRT grantee the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy: http://birdbh.org/2016/06/zainab-al-khawaja-released-amid-major-political-trials
The case has also been featured in the Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/31/bahrain-releases-activist-zainab-al-khawaja