Bahrain - Feb 7, 2012 - 18:34

A Bahraini woman who rights group Amnesty International said was jailed for listening to a revolutionary song in her car has been released and given a hero's welcome by a 10,000-strong opposition rally, a rights activist said on Tuesday.

Fadhila al-Mubarak was detained during martial law last year at a checkpoint for listening to a tape praising a pro-democracy protest movement that erupted in February after uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, Said Yousef al-Muhafda said.

Mubarak was sentenced to four years in jail for taking part in the Pearl Roundabout protests, inciting hatred of the government and insulting a public official, Muhafda said.

The sentence was later reduced to 18 months and must still be appealed.

"She didn't stop playing the song and that's why they got angry. It was a personal thing," he said, referring to the officers who arrested Mubarak. She was freed on Monday. [Reuters]