The International Press Institute (IPI) today condemned Bahrain’s arrest of prominent human rights defender Nabeel Rajab on charges of “spreading false news and rumours about the internal situation in a bid to discredit Bahrain” and it called for his immediate and unconditional release.

Rajab, who is the president and co-founder of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) and deputy secretary general of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), was detained Monday morning in a raid on his house in the village of Bani Jamra, west of the capital Manama.

Security forces, led by the Cybercrime Unit, reportedly searched Rajab’s home, seizing all his electronic devices before arresting him.

The BCHR, in a statement yesterday confirming the arrest, said that Rajab was brought before the public prosecutor 24 hours after his arrest and was ordered held for seven days pending an investigation.

Rajab has been arrested a number of times in recent years and the latest came on the first day of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC)’s 32nd Session in Geneva and just a week after another prominent activist, Zainab al-Khawaja, fled Bahrain for exile in Denmark over fears of being imprisoned again. Khawaja and her infant son were detained in March and she faced three years in prison for taking part in anti-government protests, but she was released from prison last month on “humanitarian grounds”.

According to the BCHR, six other human rights activists were prevented from boarding their flights to Geneva to participate in the UNHCR session after they were informed at the airport that a travel ban had been imposed on them.

IPI Director of Advocacy and Communications Steven M. Ellis condemned the arrest of Rajab, saying it could be seen as part of “a concerted attempt to silence critical voices in Bahrain ahead of the UNHRC’s 32nd Session”.

He continued: “It is difficult to conclude anything other than that Mr. Rajab and his fellow activists are being pursued as a direct result of their defence of human rights. We urge Bahraini authorities to release Mr. Rajab immediately, to drop all outstanding charges, and to lift the travel ban against him. We further call on authorities to end their campaign of harassment against Mr. Rajab and other human rights defenders, journalists and bloggers in Bahrain.”

One of the most prominent defenders of human rights in Bahrain and the Arab world, Rajab has been prosecuted and imprisoned several times since leading pro-democracy protests during the Bahraini uprising of 2011.

In August 2012, he was sentenced to three years in prison for three charges related to his participation in peaceful gatherings. In December 2012, an appeals court reduced that sentence to two years in prison and he was released in May 2014.

Rajab was arrested again in April 2015 – after his house was reportedly surrounded by some 20 police cars – for tweeting about alleged instances of torture at Bahrain’s Jaw prison. He was released on July 13 for health reasons after a royal pardon was issued by the King of Bahrain. However, a new travel ban was imposed against him based on two outstanding charges which were not dropped and he still could face up to 10 years in prison.

Rajab was set to be a speaker at IPI’s World Congress in Doha, Qatar in March, but he was not able to attend the event in person due to the current travel ban against him. He ultimately took part in the panel discussions via Skype.