Bahraini hunger striking activist Khawaja in court on wheelchair

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Prominent Bahraini human rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who has been on a hunger strike for more than three months, has appeared in court on a wheelchair for his trial.The Tuesday trial of the activist takes place at a civil court.Khawaja, who holds dual Danish and Bahraini nationality, was given a life sentence in a military court in June 2011 over accusations of inciting protests against the Manama regime.He looked weak upon arrival at the court on Tuesday, but moved the wheelchair forward without assistance.His lawyer, Mohamed al-Jishi, said last week that Khawaja’s health has “slightly improved because he was force-fed.”On April 30, Bahrain’s Court of Cassation ordered the retrial of 21 Bahraini political activists, including Abdulhadi al-Khawaja.The Court of Cassation ordered that the trial “take place again and that testimony from prosecution and defense witnesses be heard once more as if it is a new trial.”Seven of the 21 activists are not imprisoned, while 13 are on retrial, and one of them has been released.Meanwhile, the 13th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of rights records concerning 14 countries, including Bahrain, started in Geneva on May 21 and is scheduled to continue through June 4.The UN rights council called on the Bahraini government to release political prisoners, including Khawaja and prominent rights activist Nabeel Rajab.Rajab, who is the president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, was arrested upon return from Lebanon at the Bahrain International Airport in the capital, Manama, on May 5.Jishi, who is also Rajab’s lawyer, said the detained Bahraini activist is accused of participating in an anti-regime demonstration in Manama in January and publishing on Twitter messages the regime considered “insulting.”Rajab faces trial for the January demonstration and a second hearing for the trial is scheduled to be held later on Tuesday. /129