News / Persian Gulf

Hunger striking Bahraini anti-regime activist thrown into solitary

Friday, 01 November 2019 5:42 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 01 November 2019 5:48 PM ]

Imprisoned Bahraini anti-regime activist Moqdad al-Jaziri (Photo via Twitter)

Bahraini prison officials have reportedly placed an imprisoned anti-regime dissident into solitary confinement, as the ruling Al Khalifah regime presses ahead with its heavy-handed clampdown on political dissidents in the Persian Gulf kingdom.

Social media activists said authorities at the notorious Jau Prison decided to throw hunger striking Moqdad al-Jaziri into solitary confinement after he revealed a T-shirt on which he had written “We demand the removal of [visitation] barriers” in an act of protest, the Arabic-language Lualua television network reported.

Earlier this week, the London-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) reported that Jaziri is among at least 15 prisoners, who have been on hunger strike for the past 20 days, demanding unobstructed family visitation.

PressTV-Bahraini inmate removed from hospital, denied treatment

Bahraini authorities have reportedly removed a terminally-ill prisoner from hospital.

Jaziri was arrested in 2012 and later sentenced to 14 years in prison over what human rights campaigners describe as politically motivated charges.

Activists also accuse authorities in Jau Prison of repeatedly denying the Bahraini detainee access to medical care.

Bahraini court sentences five dissidents to life in prison

Separately, a court in Bahrain has sentenced five anti-regime protesters to life imprisonment and handed down prison sentences to two more.

The court sentenced the quintet to life in prison on Thursday after finding them guilty of “planning terrorist attacks during the Formula 1 2019 Bahrain Grand Prix” motor race that took place on March 31.

PressTV-‘Hunger-striking Bahraini inmates denied medical care’

Social media activists say hunger-striking Bahraini prisoners are being denied medical treatment, expressing concern over their deteriorating health condition.

The other two defendants in the case received 7-year prison sentences for allegedly aiding the other five.

Thousands of anti-regime protesters have held demonstrations in Bahrain on an almost daily basis ever since a popular uprising began in the country in mid-February 2011.

They are demanding that the Al Khalifah regime relinquish power and allow a just system representing all Bahrainis to be established.

Manama has gone to great lengths to clamp down on any sign of dissent. On March 14, 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were deployed to assist Bahrain in its crackdown.

PressTV-‘271 Bahraini dissidents given life terms since Jan. 2018’

An independent human rights group says Bahraini courts have sentenced 271 anti-regime dissidents to life imprisonment since January 2018.

Scores of people have lost their lives and hundreds of others sustained injuries or got arrested as a result of the Al Khalifah regime’s crackdown.

On March 5, 2017, Bahrain’s parliament approved the trial of civilians at military tribunals in a measure blasted by human rights campaigners as being tantamount to imposition of an undeclared martial law countrywide.

Bahraini monarch King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifah ratified the constitutional amendment on April 3, 2017.

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