The move to block the Al-Qudus Al-Arabi news website is only the latest in a series of measures taken to suppress general freedoms in the kingdom in the wake of peaceful protests that began in February.
(ANHRI/IFEX) – Cairo 24 May 2011 – ANHRI today condemned the Bahraini authorities for blocking access to the independent Al-Qudus Al-Arabi newspaper website on 23 May. The decision was taken following an article posted by editor-in-chief Abdel Bari Atwan entitled, “The Saudi intervention in Bahrain is very dangerous”, in which he criticized Saudi Arabia for sending one thousand soldiers to participate in suppressing of the peaceful demonstrations in Bahrain. Atwan called the move an unprecedented intervention in a crisis affecting a sovereign country and warned of possible sectarian tensions which could lead to a regional war.
The move to block the website is a new phase in a series of measures taken to suppress general freedoms in the kingdom in the wake of peaceful protests which Bahraini authorities have succeeded in suppressing with the help of Saudi military forces.
The Bahraini authorities have targeted media, internet, and human rights activists since the protests began.
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