RIYADH, Sept 15 (Reuters) – The daughter of prominent Bahraini human rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja was refused boarding a flight in London on Friday as she tried to return to the Gulf state to demand her father’s release. said that it was done.
Maryam Al Khawaja said she was told at the British Airways counter at Heathrow Airport that she was not allowed to board the plane and that she should contact immigration authorities in Bahrain.
“Effectively, we are being denied boarding by British Airways on behalf of the Bahrain government,” she wrote in a photo taken in the British Airways check-in area and posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. I mentioned it in a video.
The Bahraini government said it welcomes all visitors as long as they meet the necessary entry requirements. “However, like other countries, Bahrain reserves the right to refuse entry if deemed necessary,” the government said in a statement sent to Reuters.
British Airways did not respond to a request for comment.
Mariam said her father is going on a hunger strike because he is being denied urgent and vital medical treatment, which is why he is willing to travel to Bahrain and risk arrest.
Abdulhadi Al Khawaja, also a Danish national, is the former president of the Bahrain Human Rights Center and is serving a life sentence for his role in Bahrain’s 2011 democracy movement.
A group of activists who had said they would join her were also denied boarding, including Amnesty International Secretary-General Agnes Callamard and Frontline Defenders’ Olive Moore.
“Medical negligence”
Asked whether charges had been filed against Maryam al-Khawaja, the Bahraini government said that although she was convicted of assaulting two female police officers in 2014, she had not served any time in prison after completing her one-year sentence. There was no appeal filed.”
“In Bahrain, as in any government with an independent judiciary, individuals convicted in a court of law are subject to legal process and due process,” a government spokesperson said.
Abdulhadi al-Khawaja resumed her hunger strike on Wednesday after authorities refused to allow her to attend a scheduled medical appointment, her second daughter Zainab told Reuters.
His decision followed a human rights group’s announcement that hundreds of other political prisoners had called off their hunger strikes after the government promised to improve prison conditions.
UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mary Lawler, said the deteriorating health of Bahraini prisoners Abduljalil al-Singace, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja and Naji Fatel was “very” worrying. He said it was something that should be done.
“Medical negligence and lack of proper care have left them in a state of anxiety,” Lawler said in a statement.
On Wednesday, the government denied that Khawaja was on a hunger strike, adding that he had “repeatedly and voluntarily refused to attend regular medical appointments.”
“Mr. Abdulhadi Al Khawaja’s health condition is stable and there are no serious concerns.”
The Sunni Muslim al-Khalifa dynasty has kept a lid on dissent since Riyadh sent troops to quell the Arab Spring uprisings by predominantly Shiite rebels in 2011. Bahrain has accused Shiite Iran of stirring up unrest, a charge Tehran denies.
Reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi, additional reporting by Muvija M and Emma Farge.Editing: William MacLean and Mark Potter
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