Bahraini authorities ordered an independent newspaper to stop publishing online Monday amid wide-scale crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.
Bahrain’s Information Affairs Authority issued an edict barring Al-Wasat from publishing online Monday evening and said the ban would remain in place until further notice. The ban did not appear to affect the print edition of the paper.
It said it acted “due to repeated publication of material inciting division in the community, jeopardizing national unity and disrupting public peace,” according to a brief statement carried on the official Bahrain News Agency.
The suspension of Al-Wasat’s online operations followed a brutal crackdown on dissents by the authorities in Bahrain.
On Sunday, Al-Khalifa regime announced the execution of three activists over their alleged role in killing a member of Emirati forces assisting Manama in its clampdown on Bahraini demonstrators in the northern village of al-Daih back in March 2014.
The execution of Ali Al-Singace, Abbas Al-Samee and Sami Mushaima sparked public anger, with protesters taking to streets to voice rejection to the crackdown, stressing that the execution ruling was fabricated and based on confessions that followed torture of the three martyrs.
Al-Wasat’s editor in chief, Mansoor al-Jamri, suggested the decision had taken the paper by surprise.
“We’re trying to get information from the authorities on their points of concern,” he said.
Al-Wasat is widely seen as the only independent newspaper in Bahrain. It has been ordered shut twice since protests demanding reforms in the kingdom erupted.
Source: Websites
