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Top Bahraini political prisoner denied treatment

Mahdi Isa Mahdi Abu Deeb, imprisoned founder and leader of Bahrain Teachers' Association

Health condition of a prominent Bahraini political prisoner has taken a turn for the worse after prison officials did not provide him with medical treatment.

Informed sources, requesting not to be named, said Bahraini authorities in the notorious Jaw Prison have refused to give Mahdi Isa Mahdi Abu Deeb, who is the imprisoned founder and leader of Bahrain Teachers' Association, access to adequate medical care, Arabic-language Bahrain Mirror news website reported.

The sources added that the denial has worsened his neck and knee injuries, leaving him unable to either move or walk without assistance from others.

Deeb was arrested in the wake of the 2011 uprising in Bahrain. He was tortured in prison and initially handed down a 10-year jail sentence. An appellate court later commuted the sentence imposed on the 52-year-old prisoner of conscience to five years in prison.

Human Rights Watch has denounced the Bahraini regime over the conditions at Jaw Prison, calling on authorities to allow prisoners to contact their families.

Jaw Prison, Bahrain’s central detention facility, is where hundreds of people are incarcerated only for participation in peaceful anti-regime protests.

Since mid-February 2011, thousands of people have held numerous demonstrations on the streets of Bahrain, calling for the Al Khalifa royal family to relinquish power.

Many people have been killed and hundreds of others injured and arrested in the crackdown on the demonstrations.


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