Egypt

On December 24, 2018, a military court upheld the 10-year sentence of renowned researcher and journalist Ismail Alexandrani. He was sentenced on May 22, 2018 on politically motivated charges of “divulging state secrets” and “membership [in] a banned group,” for his vocal concern over military action in the contested Sinai Peninsula. Read more in our full DemocracyAlert here and join us in calling on the government of Egypt for his immediate release by sharing this message on Twitter.

Bahrain

On December 31, 2018, Bahrain’s Court of Cassation upheld the 5-year sentence of human rights activist Nabeel Rajab. Rajab was convicted of “disseminating false rumors in a time of war,” “offending a foreign country,” and “insulting a statutory body” for tweeting about torture in Bahraini prisons and human rights abuses committed in Yemen. Read more about his case here and share his story with your network to stand in solidarity.

Azerbaijan

On December 26, 2018, the government of Azerbaijan introduced new charges against Mehman Huseynov, a young anticorruption blogger, only two months before his sentence was slated to end. He has been charged with “resisting a representative of the authorities with the use of violence dangerous to [the representative’s] health and life,” a charge that he denies and that could carry a sentence of up to seven years. Mehman has been on hunger strike for more than three weeks in protest. Share this message on Twitter to spread the word and read more about his case here.

Although renowned journalist Khadija Ismayilova was freed from her unjust detention in 2016, she reports sustained harassment by the state including a travel ban, the freezing of her assets, and a recent tax evasion charge. Read more here and follow her on Twitter for updates.

Related:

Political Prisoners’ Families Speak Out: #SetThemFree Campaign Launches Video Series

Egyptian Court Upholds Unjust 10-Year Sentence for Journalist

Bahraini Court Rejects Political Prisoner Nabeel Rajab’s Appeal