Bahrain regime sues Indie over ‘tin-pot’ jibes

The government of Bahrain has engaged a UK-based law firm to sue the Independent for "repeatedly publishing wrong and defamatory information to tarnish its image". But a media law consultant says the case is unlikely go anywhere near the courts.

Citing the columns of the British newspaper's Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk, a Bahrain government spokesman said: "The Independent has deliberately published a series of unrealistic and provocative articles targeting Bahrain and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia."

According to the Independent, what has particularly upset Bahrain's rulers is a column by Fisk in which he criticises them for putting 48 surgeons on trial.

Yesterday, Fisk wrote: "Has the Khalifa family gone mad? Yesterday, the Bahraini royal family started an utterly fraudulent trial of 48 surgeons, doctors, paramedics and nurses, accusing them of trying to topple the tin-pot monarchy."

In his typically forthright style, Fisk describes the charges against these health workers as "a pack of lies", before going on to give a first-hand account of the events from which the charges arise.

Fisk says he was in the hospital emergency room four months ago when doctors were receiving victims of a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations. "The only problems medical staff encountered at the Sulaimaniya hospital," he writes, "was from the cruel policemen who blocked patients from reaching the medical facility."

The unrest stemmed from the Shia Muslim majority's anger at being discriminated against by the government, which is drawn largely from the Sunni minority. The protests only ended when neighbouring Saudi Arabia controversially sent in armed reinforcements.

The Bahraini Information Affairs Authority describes allegations such as these as "libel".

However, the tiny kingdom may be onto a loser here. Media law consultant David Banks says the case is "unlikely to get anywhere near the high court".

He told journalism.co.uk that the precedent is a 1993 case when Derbyshire County Council tried to sue the Times for libel. "The basic principle is that local and national governments can't sue," he said, adding that even if an individual Bahraini minister tried to sue, the Independent could protect itself by arguing that it published the allegations in the public interest.

As for the "UK-based lawyers" engaged by the Bahraini government, a public barracking awaits them if and when they are outed. As Channel 4 news presenter Jon Snow Tweeted today: "Hope the lawyers representing 'em feel good about it." ·