Bahrain Mirror: The General Secretariat of the Bahraini Parliament said that the participation of Member of Parliament, hardliner Jamal Bouhassan, in the meetings of the armed group "People's Mojahedin of Iran" also known as Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) does not represent the Parliament and is a personal issue.
The General Secretariat added in its response to an article by Hani Al-Fardan published in the Al-Wasat Newspaper that what Al-Fardan wrote was an "allegation, fabrication and lie against the legislative institution".

"The writer Hani Al-Fardan continues to write insulting articles against the Parliament full of false accusations and lies based on his extremist stance and radical view. The General Secretariat wants to stress on its complete rejection of the allegations and fabrications mentioned in Al-Fardan's articles saying that the Parliament supports the People's Mojahedin of Iran that is adopting an "armed movement" in Iran," it further stated.

"The personal stances and statements made by MPs represent them personally and their participations in events held abroad which the writer pointed at in his insulting articles are not official participations representing the parliament, and thus these repeated claims and what has been mentioned in a number of insulting articles are considered deliberate ignorance of the parliamentary work, an attempt to justify the writers' articles and a clear violation of the freedom of opinion and expression guaranteed by the constitution," the Secretariat stressed.

The General Secretariat also called on the administration of the Al-Wasat newspaper and the Bahrain Journalists Association to "guide everyone who writes insults, fabrications and lies in the name of freedom of opinion and expression, play their role of journalistic professionalism, objectivity and integrity, reveal a clear stance against anyone who abuses the freedom of the media and the constitutional legislative institution in the Kingdom of Bahrain."

The Arabic Issue