Ali Abdulemam

Ali Abdulemam is a pioneer. In 1999, he created Bahrain Online, his country’s first pro-democracy forum and a very popular one. For his pains, he was arrested, beaten and tortured several times for “publishing false information.” He was released for the last time on 23 February 2011, a week after a “Day of Anger” began a series of peaceful protests in Manama that ended up being crushed violently. A wary person, he fled just before the police came to his home to arrest him again. In June 2011, a military court sentenced him in absentia to 15 years on charges of conspiracy and participating in an attempted coup d’état. He now lives in exile in the United Kingdom, where he continues his fight.