Dubai: A Bahraini man who took Qatari citizenship and reportedly encouraged others to follow his move has been released from custody.
Salah Al Jalahma, who was allowed to go home on Saturday afternoon after he presented a written apology, was arrested on September 4 as he was about to leave the country and remanded in custody pending an investigation into allegations he was inciting hatred of the political regime.
“The public prosecution, as part of its investigations in the case of a defendant who took the citizenship of another Gulf country, has summoned him and he presented a written apology for what he had done,” Abdullah Al Dossary, the head of public prosecution in the governorate of Muharraq, said. “He said that the intent of his acts had been misinterpreted and that he had never attempted or wanted to harm the kingdom of Bahrain in any way. He pledged not to incite anyone to emigrate out of Bahrain or to take another nationality or to engage in any act that violates the laws of Bahrain,” Al Dossary said in a statement carried by Bahrain media.
Al Jalahma reportedly gave up his Bahraini nationality to become a Qatari citizen and the prosecution last week said that he encouraged members of his family to do the same and move out of Bahrain to settle in Qatar.
His extended family in the Gulf and his lawyers insisted he was innocent and that there were no legal grounds for his detention or evidence supporting the charges.
“Our son Salah never incited hatred for the regime under any form, either before or after he was granted Qatari nationality,” the family said in a statement.
Al Jalahma, one of the largest tribes in the Arabian Gulf, is well established in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and eastern Saudi Arabia.
Members of the tribe reportedly addressed a letter to Bahrain’s ambassador to Qatar, calling for his release.
Bahrain this year openly accused Qatar of luring Sunni Arab families to take up Qatari nationality and settle in Qatar. The charge is part of a diplomatic spat that has pitted Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE against Qatar over approaches to domestic and regional issues.
In August, Manama stressed again that Qatar had targeted specific families without any consideration for the provisions of the law on citizenship in Bahrain and warned its own citizens against breaking it, urging them to remain committed to its provisions to avoid legal problems.
