Mohammed Issa Altajer () is a

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

lawyer detained in April 2011, apparently for his role in defending Arab Spring protesters. In early 2011, following the self-immolation of young

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

n merchant Mohamed Bouazizi, a series of pro-democratic uprisings swept the Middle East, later to be known as the "Arab Spring". Bahraini activists joined the movement with a series of protests beginning on 14 February, which escalated into the Bahraini uprising. In March,

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa declared

martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

and a three-month state of emergency. Following the arrests of some protesters, Altajer coordinated a team of 25 defense lawyers to help those activists in incommunicado detention. Altajer's wife Huda al-Juffairi, a medical doctor, was also active in providing medical aid to injured protesters. Altajer was arrested without a warrant on 16 April 2011 at his home in Manama by more than 20 masked security officers, in front of his wife and children. The officers also confiscated laptops, mobile phones, and documents, and demanded the keys to Altajer's law office, forcing him to turn them over. His bank account was also frozen. On June 12, 2011, he was brought before a military tribunal; his attorneys were given no notice and were therefore not present. He was charged with inciting hatred for the regime, engaging in illegal protests, and inciting people to harm police, and pleaded not guilty. On 7 August 2011, Altajer was released from prison, though the charges against him appeared not to have been dropped. As one of the conditions of his release, he signed papers agreeing that he would not participate in "any activity against the country". He stated that he had been abused while in captivity by being beaten and deprived of sleep. Altajer's arrest led to international outcry, with statements of protest from

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

, the International Federation for Human Rights,

Front Line Defenders Front Line Defenders, or The International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, is an Irish-based human rights organisation founded in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland in 2001 to protect those who work non-violently to uph ...

, the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, and the New York City Bar Association.

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

also called for the dismissal of charges against him, designating him a prisoner of conscience during his detention.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tajer, Mohammed Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Bahrain Bahraini dissidents Bahraini human rights activists Bahraini lawyers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People of the Bahraini uprising of 2011 Bahraini prisoners and detainees