Bahrain

Bahrainis Demand Khawaja’s Release

Bahraini protesters have held peaceful anti-regime rallies near the capital of Manama to demand the release of prominent human rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja.

Witnesses say protest rallies dubbed ‘Friday of Khawaja’s Victory’ were held in Ma’ameer, Salmabad, and Sanabis.

Some reports suggest that Bahraini security forces fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators. At least three female protesters were also arrested in Manama outside the interior ministry, demanding the release of detained activists Zeinab al-Khawaja and her father.

The rallies were organized by Bahrain’s main opposition bloc al-Wefaq.

The rallies comes as mystery surrounds the whereabouts of Khawaja, who has been on hunger strike for nearly three months, and authorities refuse to allow his family to contact him.

Khawaja’s wife Khadija al-Mousawi says she was not allowed to see or phone her husband since Monday.

“They say he is in good health, but if that’s true, then why won’t they let me speak to him, why won’t they let me see him?” Mousawi told AFP on Thursday

She added that she was also prevented from visiting her daughter, Zainab, who was arrested Saturday night, one day before the F1 race, for holding a peaceful sit-in demanding the release of her father.

Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who holds dual Danish and Bahraini citizenship, was given a life sentence in June 2011 over accusations of inciting protests against the Manama regime. He went on hunger strike early in February to protest against the life sentence he received.

Amnesty International, however, considers Khawaja a “prisoner of conscience, detained solely for exercising his right to freedom of expression” and has called for his immediate release.

Despite national and international calls for Khawaja’s release, Al-Khalifa has so far refused to drop charges against him. Bahrain’s Court of Cassation is due to rule on Khawaja’s appeal against his conviction next week.

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