JURIST - Paper Chase: Bahrain activist's daughter detained after protest

[JURIST] The Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) [advocacy website] reported Friday that Zainab Al-Khawaja, the daughter of jailed pro-democracy activist Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], was detained [press release] Thursday by Bahraini police after protesting alone in Al Qadam. The BCHR alleged that Al-Khawaja was subject to verbal assault, threats and rough handling. On Saturday she was charged [AP report] with destroying government property including a picture of the king of Bahrain, and her detainment was extended for seven days. In May a court in Bahrain sentenced [JURIST report] Al-Khawaja to one month in prison for trying to organize an anti-government protest.

Tension between Bahrain's government and protesters has been on the rise since government forces clashed with protesters last year during pro-democracy demonstrations. The Bahrain Information Affairs authority announced in July that they had brought charges against 15 police officers [JURIST report] for alleged "mistreatment of inmates in custody." In May Bahraini authorities arrested [JURIST report] prominent human rights activist Nabeel Rajab. Earlier in May, Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] called for the immediate release [JURIST report] of the leader's of last year's anti-government protests, including Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja.