The request was made by Rajab's defence team, lawyer Mohammed al-Jishi said.

The court "rejected a request to release Nabeel Rajab and suspend" his sentence, Jishi said on his Twitter account.

Rajab, 48, went on hunger strike on October 6 after the authorities denied his request to attend a three-day condolences gathering for his mother.

The government did release him temporarily for her funeral on October 4, where he allegedly "violated" the terms of his release by urging activist to continue anti-government protests.