61 complaints filed against people who insulted Bahrain MPs

Manama : A total of 61 complaints were recently filed against people who apparently misused social networks to insult MPs, the Public Prosecution confirmed.

The offenders are now facing jail terms and fines  up to BD500 for tweeting against MPs in a way that was described as “an exploitation of freedom of expression and speech”.

Chief Prosecutor Ahmed Al Dossary said in a statement yesterday “the prosecution received complaints from Parliament Chairman Ahmed Al Mulla since last July”.

He said the complaints were against social media users who crossed the boundaries of freedom of speech and insulted the Legislative Authority, specifically the Parliament.

Al Dossary confirmed that “all the complaints received from the House of Representatives were referred to Interior Ministry’s Anti-corruption and Economic and Electronic Security General Directorate”.

“The Public Prosecution initiated its investigations and eight suspects have been identified so far. Two of them were referred to criminal courts for insulting the House of Representatives. One suspect was found guilty and was sentenced to three months imprisonment. However, he was granted a BD50 bail pending the outcomes of his appeal and the case has been referred to the appeals court. The second suspect has been sentenced to pay a fine of BD500,” Al Dossary stated, adding that six more cases are being investigated.

The chief prosecutor added that investigations are ongoing to reveal the identities of the remaining suspects, while two cases were dropped by the parliament.

Meanwhile, The General Director of Anti-corruption and Economic and Electronic Security stated it takes misuse of social media seriously.

However, he added that in such cases, “Action shall not be initiated, except upon a verbal or written complaint by the victim or by his attorney with the Public Prosecution or with an officer who has the power of summary arrest.” 

The General Director cautioned that people hiding behind fake names while committing violations will also be held accountable to the law. 

In addition, he suggested getting information from official sources and warned against posting malicious rumours. 

DT News reported on Saturday that the matter of filing lawsuits against citizens who insulted MPs and their performance on Twitter raised controversy among parliamentarians. 

Some of them called for deterrent punishments for those who misused freedom of expression, while others considered it as “depriving citizens of their constitutional rights to criticize the performance of MPs”.