Bahrain 1st-Hand: Smuggled Footage of Crackdown & Interview with Ala'a Shehabi (Channel 4)

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In a separate feature posted earlier today, we wrote about the Bahraini regime's public-relations efforts and assessed, "Far from taking the initiative, however, the regime has appeared to be on the defensive over events."

Here's a vivid example of developments on the ground overtaking spin. Amidst the regime effort to highlight a Grand Prix free from discord and controversy last week, Britain's Channel 4 sent a crew into the country. By the end of the weekend, reporter Jonathan Miller and his cameramen had seen protests, the police response of tear gas and arrests, and the effects on residents. They had followed the story of slain activist Salas Abbas Habib. They had been briefly detained, along with Bahraini activists Ali Al A'ali and Ala'a Shehabi, before they were deported late Sunday night.

The follow-up interview with Shehabi:

Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Failure Beyond the Grand Prix

Bahraini police surround photojournalist Mazen Mahdi and threaten to break his camera as he covers clashes on Sunday

See also Bahrain Analysis: Some Guy Wins Grand Prix, Regime Loses Legitimacy
Bahrain Special: Regime PR Fails at Home But Succeeds in New York Times
Syria Wired: The Latest from Social Media and EA's Readers
Turkey Live Coverage (23 April): The Kurdish Issue, Iraq, and the Region
Sunday's Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Death, A Hunger Striker, Injuries, Detentions...and a Grand Prix

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2056 GMT: The Local Co-ordination Committees of Syria reports that 80 people died today at the hands of regime forces, including 50 in Hama and 21 in Idlib Province.

2043 GMT: Footage of the funeral today of Bahraini activist Salah Abbas Habib, allegedly slain by police:

2038 GMT: Amnesty International have criticised the further delay in the appeal court hearing for 14 detained opposition activists, declaring that the regime is "toying with the life" of human rights activist Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, now on Day 75 of a hunger strike.

In a hearing lasting just a few minutes, the Court of Cassation in Manama postponed the appeal until 30 April, apparently without giving any reason. It is the second postponement since the court started considering the case on 2 April.

During today’s hearing the court was fenced off and surrounded by security officials, and each defendant could only have their lawyers and one family member present. None of the 14 defendants were in the court room.

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Bahrain Analysis: Some Guy Wins Grand Prix, Regime Loses Legitimacy

Sunday's Grand Prix (Photo: Reuters)A Grand Prix run "without a hitch"? Not at all. The serious issue now is whether the regime will be successful in reducing the near-future to "just a hitch" which does not impede its legitimacy. The best it can hope for, however, is that media shrug their shoulders with the narrative of a "divided" Bahrain: that at least gives the authorities the Emperor's new clothes of stalwart support from a minority on the island, facing a more dangerous minority (Molotovs. Religious Extremism. Iran.) ---- and thus stability must be assured.<

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