Bahrain Mirror: The Ministry of Interior viewed a draft law to be discussed at the parliament in it next session, and said that publishing photos for defendants, after obtaining permission from the Public Prosecution, does not violate the local law, or the Universal declaration of Human Rights.

The proposed law stipulates the amendment of some provisions in the Penal Code, and the replacement of paragraph (5) of article (246) in the Penal code, with a new text that penalizes whoever publishes the names or photos of any defendants before any final verdict in their cases. The amendment also proposes punishing whoever cooperates with foreign media outlets and provides names and photos of defendants.

The Foreign Affairs, Defense, and National Security parliamentary committee recommended the rejection of the proposed law, arguing that the ban on publishing names and photos would generally impede the identification of the defendants, their pursuit and arrest.

Arabic Version