In Bahrain, human rights activist Nabeel Rajab has been sentenced to two years in prison on charges of “spreading fake news” during his television interviews. Amnesty International said, “Imprisoning Nabeel Rajab simply for sharing his opinion is a flagrant violation of human rights, and an alarming sign that the Bahraini authorities will go to any length to silence criticism.” Rajab has been imprisoned multiple times in recent years for participating in pro-democracy protests and for criticizing the Bahraini government. This is Rajab speaking on Democracy Now! in 2014, just after he was released from spending nearly two years in prison.

Nabeel Rajab: “A struggle for democracy in this part of the world is not an easy thing. It’s a difficult thing. You are dealing with a ruling family that came outside and ruled this country 200 years ago, treated people like slaves. Now we want to change the situation to more democratic environment. It’s not an easy thing. It has a cost, and there will be more costs. We’ve paid a lot of lives, thousands of people behind bars, hundreds of human rights and political activists behind bars.”

Bahrain is a close U.S. ally, home to the Navy’s Fifth Fleet. Click here to see our full interview with Nabeel Rajab.