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April 28th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda Khadija al-Khawaja said on Thursday that regime officials do not allow her to see or phone her husband and only tell her that he is in good health.
She added the authorities had also barred her from visiting her daughter, Zainab al-Khawaja, who was arrested on Saturday after taking part in a sit-in, protesting her father’s ongoing detention.
Press TV has conducted an interview with Colin Cavell, former assistant professor at the University of Bahrain, to share his opinion on this issue. The following is a rough transcription of the interview.
Press TV: The way the Bahraini authorities have treated Abdulhadi al-Khawaja in prison and the rights that are not being afforded to his family as far as visitation, what does this say about the regime and how serious they are about reforms?
Cavell: Well the regime has no interest in reform but they do have an interest in trying to cover up their crimes and trying to let the world know that Bahrain is open to business and everything is normal.
So they have prevented al-Khawaja’s lawyer from seeing him since April 4th and they have put him in BDF hospital in seclusion so that no one can get to him. They do not want the public to know his condition that probably forced breathing him right now.
This regime has no moral legitimacy, no political legitimacy and they would do everything they can to prevent any type of meaningful reform.
Press TV: Right. So what does this also tell us about the likely condition of Abdulhadi al-Khawaja as his visitation rights are not being given to his family, also phone calls are not being allowed?
Cavell: Well there is speculation that al-Khawaja may have expired and the regime is preparing for that public announcement when it comes. I have heard that the state department has put out a special advisory for Americans not to visit Bahrain and last night there were a number of new checkpoints set up throughout Manama so the government is preparing for something.
So we just have to wait and see when they are going to make the situation public and visitation is allowed again if he is still alive or not.
Press TV: Right now Abdulhadi al-Khawaja and the Khawaja family as a whole has become a symbol of resistance specifically internationally speaking their names are associated with fighting for human rights in Bahrain. Any likely news on the condition of Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, how do you see this affecting the revolution in Bahrain in mobilizing the people there?
Cavell: Well both Maryam al-Khawaja and Zainab al-Khawaja were my students at the University of Bahrain- excellent students, very outspoken and very committed to human rights.
And these two women have been strong leaders in the rebellion, in the uprising in Bahrain and I think they have given encouragement to many other women in Bahrain as well as the majority of population which is in support of democratic reform.
So having one of the leaders of this revolt expired would be a devastating blow to the regime. We have already had a fiasco with Formula One. The regime got more negative attention than they expected from around the world, the visitation was very low and they had to spend a ton of money just to put this Formula One race off.
So having another public relations incident should al-Khawaja’s life be threatened or endangered would be very devastating to them.
AHK/JR
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