A Bahrain human rights activist, who was on Sunday jailed for one year on a charge of inciting hatred against the regime, has been pardoned on the same day by King Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa, an official said. Abdul Hadi al-Khawaja, vice president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, had been arrested in September after making remarks critical of the government's management of the economy.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the king's decree stipulated that "the imprisonment (of Khawaja) should be limited to the period preceding the publication of this decree."
The trial of Khawaja and the closing of his organisation on the grounds that its activities violated the small Gulf kingdom's associations law had raised international concern and prompted protests outside the court.
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