Case History: Ali Abdulemam
On 31 January 2015, the Bahrain Ministry of the Interior issued a decree revoking the citizenship of 72 individuals for “illegal acts”. The list of names provided by the Ministry includes five human rights defenders: Mr Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Mr Ali Abdulemam, Mr Abbas Busafwan, Mr Hussain Jasem, and Dr Ali Al-Dairi.
Ali Abdulemam is a blogger and free speech activist who has been targeted by the Bahraini authorities since he started 'Bahrain Online' - an online forum intended to provide a space for Bahrainis to express their opinions freely. The human rights defender was sentenced in absentia in 2011 to 15 years' imprisonment for “plotting a coup”, and left Bahrain in May 2013 for London, United Kingdom, where he currently resides.
On 31 January 2015, the Bahrain Ministry of the Interior issued a decree revoking the citizenship of 72 individuals for “illegal acts”. The list of names provided by the Ministry includes five human rights defenders: Mr Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Mr Ali Abdulemam, Mr Abbas Busafwan, Mr Hussain Jasem, and Dr Ali Al-Dairi.
The decree, which was approved by the Cabinet, was issued in accordance with Article 10(c) of the Bahraini Nationality Act and its amendments (2014). It revoked the citizenship of the individuals for their alleged involvement in a number of acts, including “spying for foreign countries and recruiting people for social media”, “financing groups carrying terrorists operations”, “defaming the image of the regime”, “seeking to form a terrorist group”, “inciting and advocating regime change through illegal means”, “belonging to terrorist groups fighting abroad” and “defaming brotherly countries”.
