5th February 2014

BAHRAIN MEDIA ROUNDUP

King of Bahrain to jail subjects for seven years if they insult him
The King of Bahrain has approved a law imposing a jail sentence of up to seven years and a ne of up to 16,000 for anyone who publicly insults him. King Hamads measure highlights the sensitivity of Bahrain and other Gulf Arab states to criticism of senior ofcials and ruling family members as well as to political dissent. Courts in Kuwait and Qatar have imposed jail terms on several nationals for insulting their rulers in past years. The new law says the penalties apply to whoever has insulted, in any kind of public manner, the king of Bahrain, or its ag, or its national emblem. Read More 10,000 dinars (16,300), which applies to "whoever has insulted, in any kind of public manner, the king of Bahrain, or its ag, or its national emblem". Under a previous law, anyone who offended "the Emir of the country, the national ag or the national emblem" was due to be jailed but no jail terms were set. Read More Millions of dinars owned to companies will also have to be written off as the carrier changes its legal status, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication. The revelations come almost a year after the airline went into voluntary liquidation, with the loss of 345 jobs. Read More

New law makes offending Bahrain king punishable by up to 7 years in prison

Offending King Hamad can now result in up to seven years in prison, Bahrain announced Tuesday. The news comes just days before the third anniversary of the Shiite-led, Arab Spring-inspired protests against the kingdoms Sunni monarchy. Bahrain amended its 1976 penal code to carry a

minimum one-year and maximum seven-year sentence, including a ne of up to US$26,000, for "publicly offending the king of Bahrain, its national ag or emblem, state news agency BNA reported. The prison sentence could rise above seven years if the offense was committed in the presence of the king," BNA added. Prior to the law change, the same charges against the monarchy carried a minimum sentence of a few days. Read More Some MPs have alleged rms from countries such as the UK and US were given priority over local businesses, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication. The deadlocked vote on amendments to the Tender Board's set-up law was decided by parliament rst vice-chairman Abdulla Al Dossary.

Bahrain Strengthens Punishment for Insulting King Hamad

King Hamad of Bahrain has signed into law a bill that imposes a strict jail sentence and a huge ne for anyone who publicly insults him. The measure includes a jail sentence of up to seven years and a ne of up to

Bahrain officials reject $1.6bn payout criticism

Top government ofcials have rejected criticism after Bahrain allegedly paid out BD600 million ($1.6 billion) to foreign owned companies last year.

Bahrain Air on the verge of bankruptcy

Hundreds of Bahrain Air staff who lost their jobs when the airline went into voluntary liquidation are unlikely to receive severance packages with the company allegedly about to le for bankruptcy.

8 Bahraini officials suspended for corruption

Eight government ofcials in Bahrain have been suspended in connection with 25 major corruption cases under investigation following audit report revelations.

The Cabinet originally referred 20 cases to the Interior Ministry's AntiCorruption and Economic and Electronic Security Directorate, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication. However, it added another ve cases to the probe list yesterday. Read More