Manama: Two Bahrainis planning to distribute a pamphlet calling for the boycott of elections and for a change in the country's political system have been arrested, the public prosecutor has said.
The two men, a dentist and an insurance employee, will remain in police custody for two weeks pending investigation after they were charged with demanding a change in the state political system through illegal means and with no valid reason and possessing printed material that included false information likely to undermine public security and harm public interest.
The pair were arrested on Thursday in possession of 1,500 leaflets that they were planning to distribute on Friday at several mosques in the country.
Civil disobedience
The material, downloaded from an internet website, included a pamphlet by London-based opposition figure Saeed Al Shihabi calling for the boycott of the elections and the launch of a civil disobedience campaign. Both men admitted the charges, but said that they did not know that they were breaking the law.
Their lawyer Mohammad Al Mutawa said that the two men were not aware of the law banning the distribution of the pamphlets, and argued that they made copies in a public place.
The public prosecutor said that the 35-year-old dentist was a member of Al Wefaq but now holds divergent political views. He was arrested in 1998 on charges of similar possession of leaflets and sentenced to six months. The second man has no political affiliations.
