Bahrain sentences top rights activist Rajab to 5 years in prison – lawyer

Prominent Bahraini rights activist Nabeel Rajab was sentenced to five years in prison on Wednesday, for critical comments he made on Twitter about the government, Reuters reports, citing his lawyer and activists. Rajab, a leading figure in pro-democracy protests in 2011, is already serving a prison sentence for making “false or malicious” statements about authorities. The charges arose from a January 2015 interview cited by the prosecution, in which he was alleged to have said that Bahrain was holding political prisoners who were subject to torture.