A United Nations panel said on Thursday that Bahrain should immediately release imprisoned activist Nabeel Rajab. The statement by the UN’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention describes Rajab as the victim of government-sponsored “persecution” for his political views in the island kingdom, AP reports. Rajab is serving a five-year prison sentence for tweets he sent in a case widely criticized internationally as the government continues a crackdown on dissent. He faces further time in prison on other charges similarly denounced abroad. Authorities in Bahrain, home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet and a British naval base, have not commented on the panel’s opinion.