A Bahrain court has sentenced three family members of a prominent activist living abroad to jail terms as the authorities presses ahead with its heavy-handed crackdown against opposition figures and pro-democracy activists in the Persian Gulf kingdom.
A Bahrain court has sentenced three family members of a prominent activist living abroad to jail terms as the authorities presses ahead with its heavy-handed crackdown against opposition figures and pro-democracy activists in the Persian Gulf kingdom.
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, who is a member of the rights group, the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD), said his relatives were sentenced on Monday on the charge of planting a “fake bomb” in January 2017.
The Britain-based activist further noted that his family members were convicted based on confessions gained through torture, and Bahraini officials are targeting his relatives because of his work in exposing the Manama regime’s “horrific rights abuses.”
“I was distraught to see my family suffer torture, persecutions and interrogations about my activities,” he added, noting, “I will do whatever I can to hold the perpetrators to account.”
Alwadaei’s 49-year-old mother-in-law, HajerMansoor, and 18-year-old brother-in-law, Sayed NizarAlwadaei, were each sentenced to three years in jail.
Meanwhile, a group of 13 human rights groups have sent a letter to British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, describing the case as “part of a pattern of abuse and harassment against human rights advocates and their families in Bahrain.”
