DUBAI: Bahrain human rights activist Maryam Al Khawaja (pictured), was bailed yesterday pending trial for assaulting police officers, her lawyer said, following a plea from civil society groups from around the world.
Khawaja, a director of the Beirut-based Gulf Centre for Human Rights, also has Danish nationality and is a daughter of jailed Shia opposition idol Abdulhadi Al Khawaja.
She was arrested after arriving at Manama airport on August 30 and will go to trial on October 1.
“Khawaja was freed today but has been prohibited from leaving Bahrain pending her appearance in court,” Mohammed Al Jishi said, describing her release on bail as a “positive measure.”
Earlier yesterday, Reporters Without Borders said 155 civil society groups from more than 60 countries had urged H M King Hamad to order Khawaja’s unconditional release.
“We... write to you united in our condemnation of the politically motivated arrest of human rights defender... Maryam Al Khawaja,” said a letter to the king.
“We urge that Maryam is immediately and unconditionally released,” it added.
Khawaja “is being persecuted for exercising her legitimate rights to freedom of expression and association in the defence of fundamental freedoms including her cooperation with international institutions and her important role in documenting human rights violations in Bahrain,” it said.
“We stand in solidarity with Maryam and all other human rights defenders wrongly imprisoned by your government for their work and beliefs,” it added.
The prosecution has said Khawaja hit two policewomen at the airport, but the activist claims she was attacked by police.
She faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
Tiny but strategic Bahrain, home base of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, remains deeply divided three years after the authorities crushed month-long protests.
Abdulhadi Al Khawaja was jailed for life following the 2011 Shia-led protests against authorities in the Sunni-ruled Gulf state.
His daughter has been active abroad in criticising the Bahraini authorities since the crackdown.
She has been a familiar figure in Washington, regularly meeting members of Congress and administration officials. In 2011, she testified as a witness at a congressional hearing on Bahrain.
14 Shias get life terms
Meanwhile, a Bahrain court yesterday sentenced 14 Shias to life in prison after convicting them of attacking police with explosives during an anti-regime protest, a judicial source said.
The Gulf kingdom’s prosecution service had accused the group of attempted murder of policemen using petrol bombs and explosives, and taking part in an unauthorised protest.
In the May 29, 2013 attack, an improvised device exploded as police tried to extinguish tyres set alight by demonstrators in the Shia village of Bani Jamra outside the capital Manama, the judicial source said. Several policemen were wounded, some seriously.
Dozens of Bahraini Shias have been handed down lengthy prison terms after being convicted of involvement in violent protests.
AFP
