NHRC Follows Up the Case of Arresting Social Media Activists

National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) followed up the case of arresting number of social media activists in the last few days. It contacted the security authorities to inquire about the charges against those citizens and whether legal guarantees were applied. The activists were arrested pursuant to a legal warrant when they refused to come before investigation authorities based on the summons against them. The security authorities assured that the activists were informed about the charges against them and were allowed to contact their families except for one refused at first until the authorities contacted his family and informed them about his arrest. The authorities also assured that the activists have the right to hire a lawyer. On the other hand, in response to what have been circulated in social media about the activist who went on hunger strike, the authorities stated that the activist retreated and the news of the hunger strike occurred prior to the arrest when one activist contacted the others after they were summoned. It is worthy to mention that the security authorities did not inform the Commission about the charges against the arrestees.