Top Danish diplomat: Al-Khawaja weak but conscious

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - A top Danish diplomat has said that the jailed Bahraini human rights activist, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who has been on a hunger strike for more than two months to protest his detention, is weak but still conscious.

The head of consular services in the Danish Foreign Ministry, Ole Engberg Mikkelsen, said on Wednesday that Danish ambassador to Bahrain, Christian Koenigsfeldt, had visited al-Khawaja for 20 minutes late Tuesday, AFP reported.

"It's clear that he is very weak after such a long hunger strike (but) he is conscious," Mikkelsen said.

Khawaja's lawyer said on the same day that his client was determined to pursue his protest "until he is released."

On Tuesday, Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt pointed out that al-Khawaja was in a “critical condition”.

Meanwhile, the Bahraini Interior Ministry announced on Tuesday, "No state has the right to demand the release" of a citizen or a resident of Bahrain condemned by the so-called "honest and independent" judiciary of the Persian Gulf monarchy.

According to an April 7 report by Bahrain News Agency (BNA), “Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmad Al-Khalifa received a written letter from Danish Foreign Minister Villy Soevndal asking Abdulhadi al-Khawaja be transferred to Denmark since he holds Danish citizenship.”

The Bahraini regime, however, has rejected the request.

Al-Khawaja, the co-founder and former president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, was arrested last April and was later sentenced to life in prison by a military court for what it described as "plotting to overthrow the government."

According to Amnesty International, his conviction was based on a confession he made under duress, and no evidence was presented showing he had used or advocated violence during the mass anti-regime protests, which erupted in mid-February 2011.

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