BAHRAIN MEDIA ROUNDUP

13th May 2014

Bahraini prince
accused of torture
may lose immunity in
UK
A Bahraini royal family
member might be stripped
of his diplomatic immunity
in the UK after an
opposition protester, who
accuses him of involvement
in torture, has been given
permission to challenge his
immunity from prosecution.
The judicial review
proceedings were brought
by a Bahraini citizen in
Britain after Bahrain's pro-
democracy uprising in
2011, which was violently
crushed by the al-Khalifa
regime.
In 2012, the UK's Crown
Prosecution Service (CPS)
gave Prince Nasser
immunity, a decision now
challenged as erroneous in
law.
Read More
British-Bahraini
Activist Hails
'Damning' Verdict on
HMRC over Spyware
Export
A British citizen at the
forefront of the Bahraini
2011 uprising who was
allegedly targeted by spy
technology from a UK-
based company has urged
the British government to
be held accountable for
alleged violation of export
laws.
In a case that highlights the
danger of digital
surveillance post-NSA
scandal and Snowden
revelations, British-born
economics lecturer Dr Ala'a
Shehabi says she was
targeted by FinFisher, a
malicious software
distributed by UK-based
company Gamma
International.
Shehabi, who has a PhD
from Imperial College in
London and is one of the
founding members of
Bahrain Watch monitoring
group, was at the forefront
of the Bahrain's pro-
democracy uprising that
was violently crushed in
2011 by the al-Khalifa
regime.
Read More
UK-Bahrain relations
to come under
scrutiny as Gulf
state's king visits UK
Britain's controversial
relations with Bahrain will
come under scrutiny this
week as the king of the Gulf
island state faces protests
by democracy activists who
are ghting back in a public
relations campaign to
highlight little-reported
unrest, repression and
human rights violations.
King Hamad bin Issa Al
Khalifa is taking part in the
Royal Windsor Horse Show
at the weekend while
Prince Andrew is scheduled
to open an exhibition
organised by the ofcially-
sponsored Bahrain
Expatriate Association
events opposition groups
want to exploit.
Al-Wefaq, the country's
main opposition bloc,
reported that 170
protesters, including 29
children, were arrested by
government security forces
in April. At least 58
protesters were injured,
mostly by birdshot.
Read More
Bahraini prince could
be arrested if he
travels to the UK
A Bahraini prince could face
arrest and prosecution for
involvement in torture of
anti-regime protesters if he
travels to the UK.
The case against Prince
Nasser bin Hamad Al
Khalifa was launched in the
British courts in 2012.

The Crown Prosecution
Service (CPS) had
previously said that the
Bahraini prince could not be
investigated over
allegations of being
involved in the torture of
Bahraini protesters in 2011.
The CPS decided that the
son of the King of Bahrain
has immunity as
commander of the Royal
Guard of Bahrain and
cannot be prosecuted.
Read More
In important court
victory, UK customs
pushed to come
clean about
investigations of
spyware companies
After two years of pressing
the Government to come
clean on what, if anything,
they are doing to
investigate the potentially
illegal export of the spyware
FinFisher, a ruling [on 12
May 2014] by the
Administrative Court in
Privacy International's
favour marks a signicant
turning point in our long-
running campaign to bring
more transparency and
accountability to the
surveillance industry.
The High Court slammed
Her Majesty's Revenue and
Customs for not disclosing
whether it was investigating
the potentially illegal export
of FinFisher, saying it was a
"fundamental failing" to
issue blanket refusals when
Privacy International sought
information.
Read More