On February 21, 2018 Bahrain's Criminal Court sentenced political activist Nabeel Rajab to five years in prison for tweets and retweets in 2015 denouncing Saudi Arabia's role in the war in Yemen and for criticizing prison abuse in his country. Rajab is already serving a two-year sentence handed down in July 2017 for comments he made in televised interviews and faces charges in respect of articles by him published in Le Monde and the New York Times. The travel ban he has been under since November 2014 also remains in place. Rajab is one of the most high-profile democracy campaigners in the Arab world and has served several prison sentences since setting up the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights in 2002. This is the latest decision in Bahrain's heightened crackdown on dissent which has seen increasing instances of intimidation and reprisals against human rights defenders, journalists, and active members of civil society. Bahrain joined the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the courts continue to engage in progressive rhetoric despite pursuing action totally at odds with democratic principles. Global FoE could not identify official legal and government records on the case and information on the case was derived from secondary sources. Global FoE notes that media outlets may not provide complete information about this case. Additional information regarding legal matters will be updated as an official source becomes available.