Bahrain investigates death of jailed activist, denies Shia crackdown

Bahrain said Friday it was investigating the circumstances of the death of a Shia activist in custody, adding he had been arrested for "espionage" on behalf of Iran.

A London-based NGO, the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD), had earlier called for an investigation into the death of 32-year-old Mohamed Almosawi, who was arrested at a checkpoint on 19 March.

It said his family had been contacted on Friday morning to collect his body from a military hospital in the Gulf kingdom.

BIRD had published photos showing bruises and injuries on his face, body and feet, "raising serious concerns that he was subjected to torture prior to his death".

Almosawi was held "in connection with a case of espionage, communication, and transmission of information" to Iran's Revolutionary Guards about the country's strategic sites "with the aim of targeting them", the interior ministry said.

"The Public Prosecution's special investigation unit has been tasked with investigating the incident and verifying the circumstances of the injuries as well as the causes that led to the death," it added.

The ministry claimed that photos circulating on social media were "inaccurate".

Bahrain is ruled by a Sunni Muslim dynasty, but the tiny kingdom has a large Shia population that has long complained of marginalisation.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) last week expressed alarm after the arrests of "dozens of people" since the US-Israeli offensive against Iran began on 28 February.

Some of those detained were accused of treason, while others were arrested for protesting.

The arrests also come at a time when Gulf countries are concerned about Iranian infiltration as they come under attack, with Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE all cracking down on what they call Iran-related networks.

Videos posted by activists from Almosawi's funeral later Friday in Muharraq in north Bahrain showed a large crowd of angry men following his coffin.

Almosawi had previously spent 12 years in prison, like hundreds of protesters jailed during pro-democracy demonstrations inspired by the Arab Spring in 2011.

He was among around 1,500 prisoners pardoned and released in 2024.

Denies crackdown on Shia community

Bahrain later issued a statement on Saturday denying that it was cracking down on citizens based on their religious identity.

The statement came after two Bahraini rights groups told AFP that more than 200 people, the vast majority of them from the Shia community, had been arrested since the beginning of the war.

"The suggestion that Bahrain is targeting its citizens based on religious identity is categorically false and inflammatory," Bahrain's National Communication Centre said in a statement to AFP.

"Charges have been brought because of specific, evidenced conduct - including espionage, dissemination of enemy propaganda, and incitement to violence," it said.

"Any act that targets national security or seeks to undermine national unity will not be tolerated."

Rights groups told AFP that lawyers had had a difficult time reaching their clients. In the case of one woman arrested over her social media posts, her family spent five days trying to locate her, according to a relative.

"The allegation that lawyers were systematically denied timely access to clients is untrue. The specific claim that a female detainee's family could not locate her for five days is equally without foundation. All defence rights have been scrupulously observed throughout," the NCC said