On 16 December 2013, Al Fardan briefly followed a local protest in order to document it as part of his job. 10 days later, on 26 December 2013, members of the Criminal Investigation Department in civilian clothes broke into his house, arrested him and took him to the CID, where he was detained incommunicado for three days, during which he was severely beaten, resulting in two broken ribs. Al Fardan was later transferred to the Dry Dock Prison, from where he was released on 9 January 2014.

Criminal proceedings against him continued and, on 17 February 2015, Al Fardan was sentenced by the Manama Court to three months imprisonment for attempting to attend an illegal gathering. After appealing, his sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court of Appeal on 3 February 2016 and he is now serving his sentence at the Al Jaw prison, known for its "severe abuses" of prisoners. Following his first arrest, Al Fardan's family turned to several government bodies and organisations in the hope that they would help release him and open an investigation on his ill-treatment, but to no avail.

Concerned over the fact that Al Fardan has been convicted for exercising his job and his legitimate right to freedom of association and assembly, Alkarama seized the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD), requesting this Special Procedure for the protection of human rights to call upon the Bahraini authorities to release him immediately.

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