Bahrain: Demonstrators Remain In Prison As Appeals Rejected
By MISNA
The appeals for release of Zainab Al Khawaja and Nabil Rajab,leaders of the protest movement that for the past year and a half has called for reforms and democratic openings in Bahrain were rejected. Their trials have been postponed to, respectively, September 26 and 27. The two have been inprisoned for several weeks and in the past had been detained by raising criticisms and reactions by both organizations for human rights in some countries and international institutions.
Two days ago, the Centre for Human Rights in Bahrain, of which Rajab is president, had also expressed concern and reported mistreatment in prison for Khawaja and Rajab.
According to local sources, in order to protest against the detention of activists convicted on politically motivated – apart from Rajab and Khawaja, many others are currently in jail – an event is now being held in Bani Jamrah.
For the past 18 months, political parties and civil society organizations have been calling on King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to enact concrete reforms for democratic change in the small Gulf country. Aspirations and claims taken to the streets peacefully which, however, have met strong reaction from the government and security forces, with several deaths and hundreds of arrests among the protesters.
