Bahrain Mirror: Detainee Fadhel Abbas' family reiterated their demands to allow them visit their son, expressing fear over his safety, especially that he has been held since over 225 days; i.e. more than 7 and a half months. The family further stated that they couldn't visit their son even for one time, noting that the last time they saw him was on his arrest day, on September 2016.

The family said "we knew that our son will be transferred to the military judiciary, however, this doesn't mean preventing their family from visiting him for almost 8 months, or even banning him from assigning a lawyer."

"His lawyer couldn't get Abbas' proxy to represent him attending the investigation sessions. Moreover, Fadhel wasn't presented to the prosecution despite being held for months," they noted.

The family also mentioned that "Their son Fadhel, who resides in Hamad town, was arrested on the dawn of September 26, 2016 and only called during the first days of his arrest. He then called after 55 days. He only called us 5 times within 225 days. Fadhel called his family 60 days earlier and he sounded frail, which increased the family's concern over him."

"We have received several visit permits from the Public Prosecution. However, each time, the authorities postpone the visit to continue the interrogation with him since the order of his arrest came from the terrorist cases prosecution, according to what we were told. We have been promised a call back to arrange for a visit, but that hasn't happened yet," they further stated.

They added "We have approached the public prosecution CID and Dry dock Prison, but in vain. We also contacted the Ombudsman in the Ministry of Interior, but it said that it can't interfere with the issue considering that the order was issued from the aforementioned prosecution. We also approached the National Human Rights Institution to know Fadhel's fate and current location, but we have not received anything yet. Besides, we also addressed the prosecution more than once to know his fate."

The family concluded their statement demanding the competent parties "to reveal Fadhel's fate and expose him to a physician if his condition requires because we are very concerned over his health, allow us to visit him as soon as possible, and allow his lawyer to attend the investigation session with him, in case found ."

Arabic Version