Former Ottawa-resident Naser Bader al-Raas jailed in Bahrain for taking part in last year’s anti-government protests was unexpectedly let out on bail on Feb. 6.

Mr. al-Raas’ supporters say they hope he will soon return to Canada a free man.

Although Mr. al-Raas was apparently released for health reasons, his lawyer told AFP that the decision could also be “because (Mr. al-Raas) will most probably be proved innocent at the next hearing” set for Feb. 16.

“We are hoping he will be allowed to leave after his trial on 16th,” the “Free Naser” group said via Facebook.

Last October, the 29-year old Kuwait-born Canadian was arrested and sentenced along with 12 other defendants, to
five years in prison for inciting hatred towards the regime, giving false information to the media, participating in illegal gatherings and breaking the country’s illegalassembly laws by participating in anti-government protests earlier in the year.

Mr. al-Raas went into hiding soon after the verdict was announced, saying he feared returning to prison, where he despite his heart condition he was badly tortured while in pre-trial detention.

On Jan. 24, 2012, the High Criminal Court of Appeal in Manama, Bahrain’s capital, acquitted the rest of the group of all charges but Mr. al-Raas lost his right to appeal because he wasn’t present in court. His lawyer petitioned the Court for a review of the decision.

Mr. al-Raas emerged from hiding on Feb.1 to attend the appeal hearing, only to have the court uphold his sentence and have him arrested.

His fiancée Zainab Ahmed told the CBC that Mr. al-Raas only appeared in court because his lawyer thought his client would be found innocent. His family appealed to the Canadian government to intervene, saying his serious heart condition meant he would not survive incarceration.

Mr. al-Raas who suffers from chronic pulmonary embolism, got caught up in the popular Arab Spring uprisings last March while on holiday in the oil-rich Gulf kingdom. He arrived in Bahrain on Mar. 6 to visit his five sisters and fiancée who live there. He was arrested on Mar. 20 while boarding a return flight to Kuwait where he worked as an IT specialist.

Mr. al-Raas was imprisoned for a month in Al-Qala prison, where he claims to have been badly beaten. He was later released without explanation on Apr. 20 and called back to the prison in June to retrieve his passport which had been taken earlier. Instead, he says he was re-arrested, beaten and charged with the kidnap of a police officer.

Because he was denied medication while in custody, Mr. al-Raas who had previously undergone two open-heart operations at the Ottawa Heart Institute, needed to be hospitalized four times.

Mr. al-Raas was acquitted of the kidnapping charge on Oct. 4, but only weeks later a civilian court sentenced him to five years in prison on new charges of “disrupting the general security” and inciting “hatred and contempt against the regime,” according to an unofficial translation provided by Amnesty International.

Earlier this month, Canada’s Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas and Consular Affairs) Diane Ablonczy said Ottawa was pushing for the case “to be resolved expeditiously, particularly in view of Mr. Al-Raas’ grave health concerns.”

More than 40 people have died since the unrest in Bahrain began nearly a year ago. The protest movement is aimed at breaking the Sunni minority’s hold on power in the Shi’ite majority country. ■