Freedom in Bahrain

Via Mahmood, I see that the campaign to suppress dissent in Bahrain is proceeding full steam ahead:

"The head of the Central Governorate’s Public Prosecution, Nawaf Abdullah Hamza, yesterday started a probe into a case filed by the Ministry of Electricity and Water against Central Municipal councillor Sadiq Rabea for issuing statements to local newspaper accusing the ministry of corruption."

Mahmood, who as many of you know has been facing his own issues, now thinks it's part of a pattern.

Meanwhile, the government of Muharraq is trying its hand at Islamism:

"Days after it banned the sale of lottery tickets, the municipality of Muharraq has launched a campaign to remove all posters and pictures, mainly from video shops, that it deemed provocative and offensive to public morals.

"The latest decision is regarded as a consolidation of the rising power of Islamists in Bahrain's second largest city and which was for decades the bastion of pan-Arabism.

"'We want to make sure that the bans are fully implemented to ensure compliance with the decisions to eliminate disguised gambling and remove posters and illustrations that flout our morals and ethics,' Mohammad Hamada, mayor of Muharraq, said on Tuesday as he toured the city to monitor the situation."

Given Bahrain's size, this isn't that big a deal so far. I presume you can still buy lottery tickets across the bridge in Manama. However, the trend is clear, and is exactly what many feared given the results of recent elections.