Second Former Bahraini Detainee Dies Due to Illness

By Staff, Agencies

Former Bahraini detainee Sayyed Kadhem Sayed Abbas al-Sehlawi, who has been suffering from disease since after his detention, died on Monday.

Al-Sehlawi is the second detainee to die due to illness this year. Two days ago, former detainee Hameed al-Khatam died from cancer. 

The young Kadhem, from al-Sahla village, is in his 20s. He was in perfect health condition before getting imprisoned. However, Kadhem was diagnosed with cancer due to the poor health condition inside the prison.

He suffered from medical negligence for 62 days during which he faced severe pain in his stomach, back and nose. He had dangerous symptoms and was not transferred to hospital despite his insistence. The prison administration only transferred him to the hospital two months later.

The tests he went through in 2018 at the military hospital revealed that he had a cancerous head tumor. The authorities, however, did not listen to appeals from his family, that demanded his release. Al-Sehlawi then underwent a serious operation at the military hospital that lasted for 4 hours.

The results of the operation were frustrating, as he lost his sight and was sent back to prison after he turned blind. He hasn’t been released before the prison administration became sure that the detainee was in a completely deteriorating health condition.

Civil societies collected about 72,000 Bahraini Dinar to help Kadhem's and he was sent for treatment in the United States, but his health condition was very poor that he continued to suffer until he passed away today.

It is worth mentioning that hundreds of sick prisoners in Jaw Central Prison live in conditions similar to what late Khatem and al-Sehlawi suffered.