Bahrain Mirror - Exclusive: The New York Times published a letter by detained Bahraini activist Nabeel Rajab in which he asked questions addressed to US Secretary of State John Kerry. Rajab asked Kerry if Bahrain is "the kind of ally the America wants? The kind that punishes its people for thinking, and that prevents its citizens from exercising their basic rights?"

Rajab said in his letter that he "met Kerry during his visit to Bahrain earlier this year," pointing out that he was glad to talk to him about the "our difficult situation".

Moreover, Rajab indicated in his letter that "after I met Mr. Kerry, I was interrogated at the Interior Ministry by the chief of the cybercrimes unit, the one who later ordered my arrest. He wanted to know everything about my conversation with the secretary of state."

"That official interrogated me again in April after I signed an open letter, with 25 other activists, calling on President Obama to discuss human rights and the plight of activists in the Middle East when he visited Saudi Arabia earlier this year," Rajab further stated. He highlighted that the Bahraini government tried to pressure him into publicly disavowing the letter, however, he refused.

Rajab indicated that "Mr. Kerry criticized the boycott of the 2014 election by opposition parties, although the opposition's demand was simply for a constitutional monarchy in place of Bahrain's autocratic system." He went on to explain, "Since that election, the leader of the largest opposition group, the Wefaq National Islamic Society, was sentenced to nine years for "promoting violence," and the society was suspended and its assets frozen."

Arabic Version