Detained Bahrain activist Nabeel Rajab 'taken to hospital'

Nabeel Rajab, a detained Bahraini humans right activist, has been hospitalised with an irregular heartbeat.

1 min read

28 June, 2016

Activist Nabeel Rajab has helped lead protests during Bahrain's 2011 demonstrations [Getty]

Supporters of an activist detained in Bahrain as part of an intensifying crackdown on dissent say he's been taken to a hospital with an irregular heartbeat.

Sayed Alwadaei, of the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, said on Tuesday that activist Nabeel Rajab was at the cardiac care clinic of the Bahrain Defense Force Hospital after being "in isolation for 15 days."

Bahraini officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Rajab is the president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. He helped lead protests during Bahrain's 2011 demonstrations as the island's majority Shia population and others demanded more political freedoms from its Sunni rulers.

Rajab – who has been systematically arrested since the 2011 uprising in Bahrain – was among dozens that were detained by authorities earlier this month in what is understood to be an increasing crackdown on opposition in the kingdom.

On Sunday Rajab's lawyer confirmed that the activist could face up to 13 years in prison for condemning the Gulf Arab kingdom's interference in Yemen.

Nabeel Rajab will stand trial for sending tweets in which he accuses Bahraini security forces of torturing detainees and killing civilians in a Saudi-led war in Yemen.