Bahrain’s public prosecution office said on Tuesday it had accused four US nationals of participating in an illegal gathering but ordered them freed pending further investigation.
The media campaign group Reporters Without Borders said on Monday that a US journalist and three members of her camera crew had been detained in Bahrain on Sunday, and urged their release.
It named the journalist as Anna Day, who has reported in the Middle East, north Africa, Asia and Latin America for numerous media outlets, mostly American.
The group’s lawyer, Mohammed al-Jishi, told Reuters by telephone they were being transferred to a police station and should be released within an hour. He said the public prosecutor had not issued any decision that would prevent them traveling.
Public Prosecutor for Manama Nawwaf al-Awadi said in a statement that security forces had arrested the four Americans while they were “participating with a group of saboteurs who were carrying out riot acts in Sitra”.
