Bahrain Mirror: Amnesty International called on the Bahraini authorities to immediately release human rights activist Zainab Al-Khawaja who was arrested on Monday (March 14, 2016), along with her baby son Abdulhadi.

In statement issued on Monday,  James Lynch, Deputy Director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Programme, said that "Zainab Al-Khawaja and her family have been relentlessly targeted by Bahraini authorities for speaking out against human rights violations."

"Her convictions are for nothing more than tearing up photos and seeking to visit her father in prison. If this arrest means the start of her prison sentence, she will be a prisoner of conscience, jailed solely for peacefully exercising her right to freedom of expression," he added.

The Bahraini courts had upheld verdicts sentencing Al-Khawaja to three years in prison, over charges of tearing up photos of the King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and entering Jaw Central Prison area, where her father Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja is held, without permission.

"The absurd charges against Zainab Al-Khawaja are not recognized under international law, and demonstrate the lengths the Bahraini authorities will go to in order to silence freedom of expression and peaceful dissent," James Lynch further stated.

Her sister Maryam Al-Khawaja, who lives outside Bahrain, told Amnesty International that she fears Zainab's latest arrest is linked to her own recent outspoken condemnation of human rights violations in Bahrain.

Amnesty International had called on Bahrain to quash Al-Khawaja's convictions and stop pursuing activists legally over charges linked to the freedom of expression, yet the Bahraini authorities hasn't answered such repeated calls.

Arabic Version