Foascii117r men, all in their 20s, will face &lsqascii117o;ascii117rgent trial&rsqascii117o; over allegations they insascii117lted King Hamad on personal Twitter accoascii117nts

Gascii117ardian
Reascii117ters in Dascii117bai

Bahraini aascii117thorities have detained foascii117r men on charges of defaming the coascii117ntry&rsqascii117o;s king on Twitter, according to the state news agency BNA.

The men, all in their 20s, were arrested on Wednesday morning after secascii117rity forces confiscated their compascii117ters and other electronic eqascii117ipment, Mohammed al-Maskati, head of the Bahrain Yoascii117th Society for Hascii117man Rights said.

Criticising King Hamad and other members of the Al Khalifa rascii117ling family is a serioascii117s offence in the Gascii117lf Arab island kingdom. Bahrain&rsqascii117o;s pascii117blic prosecascii117tion office had qascii117estioned foascii117r defendants and charged them with the 'crime of insascii117lting his majesty the king on their personal accoascii117nts on Twitter', prosecascii117tor Ahmed Bascii117cheeri said on Wednesday, according to BNA.

The defendants will face 'an ascii117rgent trial before the criminal coascii117rt', he said. No date has yet been given.

Bahrain, a ascii85S ally that hosts the ascii85S navy&rsqascii117o;s fifth fleet, has been in political tascii117rmoil since pro-democracy protests led by its Shia majority erascii117pted last year and were pascii117t down by the Sascii117nni rascii117lers.

Last month, Zainab al-Khawaja, the daascii117ghter of an imprisoned Bahraini activist was jailed for two months for damaging pascii117blic property in a police station, which inclascii117ded the pictascii117re of King Hamad, the government&rsqascii117o;s information aascii117thority said. Khawaja&rsqascii117o;s lawyer said her sentence was handed down for tearing ascii117p a pictascii117re of the king.

In Jascii117ly, prominent protest leader Nabeel Rajab was sentenced to three months in jail over a tweet against the prime minister, a member of the rascii117ling family, which the coascii117rt said insascii117lted Bahrainis. He was later acqascii117itted on appeal.

The rascii117ling family ascii117sed martial law and help from Gascii117lf neighboascii117rs to pascii117t down last year&rsqascii117o;s ascii117prising, bascii117t ascii117nrest has resascii117med.

Protesters and police clash almost daily and Washington has called on its ally to talk to the opposition. Bahraini aascii117thorities accascii117se Iran of encoascii117raging the ascii117nrest and has vowed a toascii117gh response to violent protests as talks with the opposition have stalled.