Back to the Streets for the Sake of Bahrain’s Prisoners

By Staff

The families of political prisoners in Bahrain are organizing sit-ins and demonstrations across the country to demand the release of their loved ones amid a surge in coronavirus cases throughout the kingdom’s prisons. More than sixty detainees are said to be infected so far.
 
For the second day in a row, residents of Bani Jamra demonstrated in a show of solidarity with the political prisoners and to demand their immediate release.
 
The residents in the town of Damistan organized a sit-in with the same intensions amid growing concerns over the spread of the virus in prisons.
 
In the capital Manama, residents took to the streets in solidarity with the detainees and demanded their release. They carried pictures of their loved ones bearing their names and the date of their arrest.

Others held placards with slogans such as “Save Bahrain’s Prisoners” and “Hunger and Disease Are Killing Our Sons.”
 
The towns of South Sehla, Al-Malikiyah, Al-Deir, Karana, Karzakan, Muqaba, Abu Saiba, Shakhura, and Diraz also saw demonstrations and sit-ins held in solidarity with the detainees.
 
Rights groups and observers are reporting that sixty political prisoners tested positive for the coronavirus in recent days. Meanwhile, Bahraini authorities are accused of deliberately adopting the policy of medical negligence, which is endangering the lives of the inmates.
 
Among the detainees in Al-Khalifa’s prisons is Hussein Al-Sahlawi, who suffers from chronic health problems, including signs of cancer, but the authorities are denying him treatment because he has contracted the virus.
 
The protests took place on the eve of an event organized by the Bahraini opposition dubbed the “Friday of Rage of Prisoners.”
 
The event was preceded by a widespread public campaign dubbed "Save Bahraini Prisoners," which also warned about the potential dangers of the worsening health crisis in the country’s detention centers.