MANAMA, Feb 6 (Reuters) - A Bahraini woman who rights
group Amnesty International said was jailed for listening to a
revolutionary song in her car has been released and given a
hero's welcome by a 10,000-strong opposition rally, a rights
activist said on Tuesday.
Fadhila al-Mubarak was detained during martial law last year
at a checkpoint for listening to a tape praising a pro-democracy
protest movement that erupted in February after uprisings in
Egypt and Tunisia, Said Yousef al-Muhafda said.
Mubarak was sentenced to four years in jail for taking part
in the Pearl Roundabout protests, inciting hatred of the
government and insulting a public official, Muhafda said. The
sentence was later reduced to 18 months and must still be
appealed.
"She didn't stop playing the song and that's why they got
angry. It was a personal thing," he said, referring to the
officers who arrested Mubarak. She was freed on Monday.
Demonstrations and clashes with police have escalated in
recent weeks in the run-up to the Feb. 14 anniversary of the
start of the protests. The opposition want to reduce the ruling
Al Khalifa family's domination of power through allowing the
elected parliament to form governments.
The Gulf Arab state's Shi'ite majority also complain of
economic marginalisation and attempts by the Sunni rulers to
give Sunni foreigners nationality to offset Shi'ite demographic
strength, claims the government denies.
Bahrain is host to the U.S. Fifth Fleet and is seen by
Washington and Riyadh, which sent troops to help crush the
protest movement in March, as a key ally in their conflicts with
Iran over its nuclear energy programme and regional influence.
Amnesty International last month called for Mubarak's
release and called for an investigation into allegations of
mistreatment she suffered while in detention and during her
arrest.
Muhafda said Bahraini authorities also released a Canadian
national of Kuwaiti origin called Nasser al-Rass who was
sentenced to five years in jail for taking part in protests.
(Writing by Andrew Hammond)
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