Dubai: The spokesperson for a group of young activists was on Sunday remanded in custody for seven days over a tweet he posted.
Yacoub Slaiss, who was the public voice of Al Fateh Youth Coalition (FYC), a group that often supported the government, is to be investigated over claiming on Twitter about three months ago that “military personnel received orders” to vote in parliamentary elections and calling for criminalising the alleged orders to cast ballots, Bahraini media reported.
Under Bahrain’s election laws, men and women in uniform are allowed to cast ballots.
The Bahraini opposition opposes the right of military personnel to vote, claiming that the votes go in favour of pro-government candidates.
Slaiss was previously the spokesperson for the National Unity Gathering, set up in 2011 as Bahrain’s most dramatic events in recent years were unfolding.
However, he and other young activists formed their own movement that has been more vocal in its remarks.
Bahrain will hold parliamentary elections later this year, the fourth since the adoption in 2002 of a new constitution that turned the country into a constitutional monarchy.
Elections were held in 2002, 2006 and 2010, with massive by-elections in 2011 after Al Wefaq Islamist Society, an opposition society represented by 18 members in the 40-seat Council of Representatives, walked out.
