Until this spring, Mansoor al-Jamri was the editor of Bahrain's largest independent newspaper, al-Wasat. However, in the regime crackdown against dissent, State media launched a propaganda campaign against the publication in March. Jamri and his two top editors resigned; within days, they were arrested.
On Wednesday, al-Jamri was at Bahrain's High Criminal Court, tried on charges that al-Wasat intentionally published false news reports to destabilize the regime. At his lawyer's request, the trial was adjourned until June.
Al-Jamri is interviewed by Margaret Warner of the US Public Broadcasting Service:
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MARGARET WARNER: Mr. Al-Jamri, thank you for joining us.
MANSOOR AL-JAMRI: Thank you.
MARGARET WARNER: Why do you think you have been singled out for prosecution?
MANSOOR AL-JAMRI: I'm really very surprised, because I was part and parcel of the reform process. I was invited by the king to come to Bahrain to launch this newspaper, Alwasat, which I founded and launched. And it became very successful commercially and politically.
And then, on the 15th of March, 2011, our press was attacked and damaged. And we had to work from homes. Later on, some e-mails cropped up into our system, which we didn't know they were bogus news, and they were published. Later on, we found all came from one single I.P. address located in a neighboring Gulf state, namely in Saudi Arabia.
They filtered through the system because we couldn't work. We were working from homes and because the authorities didn't give us the protection for our journalists, who were targeted in checkpoints and in every other place.
MARGARET WARNER: So, you were set up?
MANSOOR AL-JAMRI: It was a setup. We were framed into it, and later on attacked, using --- using it as a launching pad for closing down the newspaper.
MARGARET WARNER: You were founder of this paper. How does this make you feel?
MANSOOR AL-JAMRI: I feel, really, very sad. The al-Wasat newspaper was distinct. It enlarged freedom of expression. It also enabled the leadership of the country to understand things that were not understood because there wasn't the proper coverage.
Ministers, top leadership people, opposition, pro-government, and everybody who was interested in public affairs and issues of Bahrain must read al-Wasat. Al-Wasat was a must-read for anybody interested in Bahrain.
We always acted in good faith, calling for progress towards better democracy and a better reform process. We were part and parcel of the reform process. And to target Alwasat in the way it was targeted, it was targeting the reforms, rather than Alwasat.
MARGARET WARNER: So, what message do you think they were trying to send with the arrest of you and some of your top editors?
MANSOOR AL-JAMRI: I think they want to say that Bahrain now is different; whatever we had before is finished.
I think it is, in a way, to drive despair or to instill fear in many people, so that, oh, gosh, I mean, with all the suffering that we are having, we would love even to go back to what we used to be just prior to the protests.
And I think the message is, you won't even get that level. What we have now, Bahrain has turned from a political crisis into a humanitarian crisis.
MARGARET WARNER: Where does the basic neutering of Alwasat, the charges against you, how does that fit in the broader crackdown of what is going on now?
MANSOOR AL-JAMRI: It is creating --- I mean, for --- if you target Mansoor Al-Jamri, you will be targeting others as well.
Mansoor al-Jamri came to Bahrain by an invitation of the king. He came to Bahrain and he was allowed to function and to work on a free -- a larger margin for freedom of expression. And to attack that margin, basically, you're sending a message, look, even Mansoor was targeted, and he's been persecuted.
And, therefore, I think the message now, nobody's untouchable. Everybody -- we're coming to everybody, and we're going to do whatever we like to do.
MARGARET WARNER: The government insists this is about the Sunni-Shia divide in this society. Is it?
MANSOOR AL-JAMRI: It's not about Shia-Sunni divide, although the confessional divide is being superimposed on the problem, so that to cover it up.
I think this is between aspirational society looking at what is happening in the world and wanting to live in a better condition. The majority of the -- majority of Bahrainis, Sunnis and Shias want to have democracy, a constitutional monarchy. And they don't want to have conflict with the ruling family or with the neighboring countries around Bahrain.
As it is now, if you are a Shia, you are told, you are unwanted, you are a --- no citizen, you are zero, you are out. If you are a senior official, you will be got ridden of. If are you a Sunni, you're OK, you're our friend.
That is the --- that's a very dangerous message for the medium- and long-term. You could create security, but you cannot create stability. And without stability, you don't have prosperity and you can't have democracy and human rights.
To continue in the way as it is now, it is only you're planting problems for the future. It cannot continue. This is not sustainable. We are either one nation and one country, or we can't continue like this.
The way it is now, they have created two nations in one country living apart. One is frightened and one is comforted. This cannot continue forever.
MARGARET WARNER: Now, the government says, once we have restored law and order, which we think we basically have, that we can go back to some sort of political consultation.
Do you think that's possible?
MANSOOR AL-JAMRI: You have many casualties, how will you be addressing those -- the injuries, you know, to the nation, people who died in custody, people who died during the protests, those who had been sacked from their jobs, the medical profession that had been targeted, the schools, the way that they were treated?
You can't say to somebody, forget it. And unless you come to realize that something wrong has happened, you just can't forget it, basically.
MARGARET WARNER: You still face trial.
MANSOOR AL-JAMRI: Yes, indeed.
And many people of --- many of my fellow countrymen are also facing difficult times. We all, as a nation, are facing a very difficult time. And we need to speak very frankly to each other. And we need to hear each other. We have not been listening to each other for the last month -- for the last two months. It is time that we start listening it to each other to find an exit to this crisis.
MARGARET WARNER: Thank you very much.
MANSOOR AL-JAMRI: You're welcome. Thanks.