Bahrain Press Association: Increasing cases of infringement of freedoms since 2011

The Bahrain Press Association issued its annual report for the year 2020, which documented violations by the Bahraini authorities and their attacks on press and media freedoms.
In its report, the Association emphasized the increasing incidence of violations by the Bahraini authorities on press freedoms, freedom of expression and the right to engage in journalistic work during the year 2020, since the start of the political crisis in early 2011.
It said that during the past year, it had documented 111 violations of media freedoms and freedom of opinion and expression in Bahrain, bringing the number of cases documented from February 2011 to December 2020 to about 1,706 violations of freedom of opinion and expression.
It indicated that the cases were divided into 51 judicial procedures or referrals to the Public Prosecution Office, 25 cases of detention, 12 cases of summons to interrogation, in addition to 23 cases that included other violations, including threats, blocking sites, layoffs, and the introduction of legislation restricting freedoms.
The Association added that the majority of these violations are related to comments made by citizens or residents via the internet and social media platforms..
The Association called on the Bahraini authorities to review their positions and adopt another approach that corrects the country’s situation in this regard, especially since the right to express opinion is constitutionally guaranteed.