Bahrain woman jailed for reciting anti-govt poems

A special security court has given a one-year prison sentence to a 20-year-old woman who recited poems critical of Bahrain’s rulers, the state news agency reported.

Ayat al-Qurmezi is the first woman to be sentenced by the tribunal set up as part of a wide-ranging crackdown on Shiite-led protesters demanding greater rights from Bahrain’s Sunni monarchy.

The official Bahrain News Agency said Ms al-Qurmezi was convicted today of charges including inciting hatred. She can appeal. She read the poems critical of Bahrain’s king and prime minister after demonstrations broke out in February.