Ayatollah Isa Qassim renews call for immediate release of jailed political prisoners amid coronavirus pandemic

AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Bahrain’s most prominent cleric Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim has expressed concern over the alarming situation of healthcare in the country’s prisons and jails, renewing his call for the immediate release of political inmates in light of the deadly coronavirus pandemic.

Sheikh Qassim, in a statement released on Monday, called on Bahraini protesters demanding the freedom of imprisoned opposition figures to continue their demonstrations.

“Show the world how the oppressed people stand up for their rights and never compromise on them. At the same time, they do not allow their anger and outrage to take them away from observing the norms of their religion and wisdom,” the senior cleric pointed out.

Sheikh Qassim, however, cautioned Bahraini demonstrators against covert attempts to hijack their protest movement and crush their demands for the release of political dissidents.

He also called for the protection of public and private property during the demonstrations.

Back on April 1, Sheikh Qassim had warned that political dissidents in Bahraini prisons are facing deaths and had demanded their immediate release.

The senior cleric called on the ruling Al Khalifa regime at the time to choose between the deaths of the dissident inmates and their release.

“One of the worst things that the government of Bahrain does is to keep prisoners as leverage for political bargaining, especially now that the coronavirus [pandemic] is attacking [Bahrain's] prisons with full force,” the distinguished cleric highlighted.

On Sunday evening, protesters and relatives of Bahraini political detainees took to the streets across the Persian Gulf kingdom to demand release of their loved ones in light of the coronavirus outbreak.

The demonstrators staged rallies in multiple regions, including Sitra Island, which lies 5 kilometers south of the capital, Manama, as well as Bilad al-Qadeem suburb of Manama, and villages of Sanabis, al-Daih and Nuwaidrat, denouncing the Al Khalifah regime's blackout on the number of detainees infected with the coronavirus.

The protesters held Bahraini authorities fully responsible for endangering the lives of political detainees.

In the village of al-Dair, Bahraini demonstrators and relatives of political inmates mounted stiff resistance as regime forces sought to disperse the crowd, insisting they will press ahead with their demonstrations until their jailed loved ones are freed.

Arab and Muslim communities in several European capitals also organized vigils in solidarity with Bahraini prisoners of conscience.

Protesters converged outside the Bahraini embassy in London for the second consecutive day, calling for the unconditional release of all political prisoners.

The Bahrain embassy in the German capital Berlin was also the scene of a similar rally, where participants voiced solidarity with prisoners being kept in overcrowded jails amid the coronavirus outbreak.

In the French capital city of Paris, activists called on Bahrain’s ruling regime to expose truth about the deteriorating conditions of detainees at the notorious Jau Prison – which houses political leaders, human rights defenders, and other prisoners of conscience.

Demonstrations in Bahrain have been held on a regular basis ever since a popular uprising began in mid-February 2011.

The participants demand that the Al Khalifah regime relinquish power and allow a just system representing all Bahrainis to be established.

Manama, however, has gone to great lengths to clamp down on any sign of dissent.

On March 5, 2017, Bahrain’s parliament approved the trial of civilians at military tribunals in a measure blasted by human rights campaigners as being tantamount to imposition of an undeclared martial law countrywide.

King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifah ratified the constitutional amendment on April 3, 2017.

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