Bahraini forces fire teargas on demo

On Friday, police fired teargas at demonstrators who were calling for the release of prominent human rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who has been on a hunger strike for nearly two months, as well as other imprisoned activists.

The massive rally was organized by the main opposition bloc al-Wefaq.

Meanwhile, a female anti-regime protester died on Friday, almost a month after a teargas canister hit her home during an overnight attack by regime forces.

Her death comes a week after regime forces shot dead a young protester in the village of Salmabad.

On Thursday night, Bahraini forces arrested al-Khawaja’s daughter, Zainab, for protesting against her father’s detention. Activists say she has now been transferred to a prison outside Manama.

Last week, Amnesty International called for the ‘immediate and unconditional release’ of al-Khawaja and other detained activists in the country.

The rights group considers al-Khawaja a ‘prisoner of conscience, detained solely for exercising his right to freedom of expression.’

Al-Khawaja, the co-founder and former president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, was arrested in last April and was later sentenced to life in prison by a military court last June for what it described as ‘plotting to overthrow the government.’ According to Amnesty International, his conviction was based on a confession he made under duress, and no evidence was presented showing he had used or advocated violence during the mass anti-regime protests.

MHB/MF/GHN

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