Silent vigil at Saudi Embassy to Free Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja 1 Favorite 

Practitioner: 

Date: 

Apr 10 2012

Location: 

dublin, ireland


Former colleagues of Abdulhadi Al Khawaja from Front Line Defenders today held a silent vigil at the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Dublin to urge the King of Saudi Arabia to use his influence with Bahrain to enable Abdulhadi to travel to Denmark for medical treatment.

Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja was Protection Coordinator for the Middle East Region for three years up until Feb 2011 when he resigned to focus on his work for human rights in Bahrain.

Our friend and former colleague Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja is currently on day 63 of his hunger strike. Abdulhadi is one of the best known and most respected human rights defenders in Bahrain. He was brutally tortured and sentenced to life imprisonment after an unfair trial before a military court.

The Court of Cassation (Supreme Court) has yet to make a ruling on whether on not Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja and 13 other defendants will be granted a re-hearing on the basis of the findings of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Enquiry (BICI) re the unfairness of the proceedings.

His family and lawyer have not been able to see him since Saturday. The Government of Denmark has requested that he be released to travel to Denmark for medical treatment. Abdulhadi has dual Bahraini and Danish citizenship.

The purpose of the vigil is to urge the Saudi Government to use its influence with the Government of Bahrain to accede to this request on humanitarian grounds.

Posted by Butheina on