Bahraini detainee hospitalised after hunger strike — family

DUBAI — A high-profile Bahraini activist was admitted to hospital on Thursday, her family said, three days after launching her second hunger strike behind bars to protest the treatment of prisoners. 

Hajer Mansoor Hassan, 49, and her 18-year-old son were sentenced to three years in jail in October, in a trial decried by rights groups as an act of political reprisal against Bahraini activists. 

She was hospitalised with hypoglycemia, three days after starting a hunger strike to protest the treatment of inmates at the notorious Isa Town Prison, her son-in-law Sayed Alwadaei told AFP. Bahrain’s justice ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Another high-profile activist, Ebtisam Al Saegh, also tweeted the news of Mansoor’s hospitalisation.

Hassan — who had also observed a hunger strike in October — had been sentenced along with her son for planting a “fake bomb” in the A’ali district south of Manama.

Their case came under international scrutiny over both the validity of the charges and trial standards. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have condemned the verdict, with Amnesty calling the sentencing “a reprisal” for the work of Alwadaei, who is head of advocacy for the London-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy.

In a report published in March 2017, a group of UN special rapporteurs also said there was evidence that Bahraini interrogators had told Mansoor’s son they would “take revenge on him” because of Alwadaei’s work.

Authorities have cracked down on political dissent since a wave of protests erupted in 2011 demanding an elected government in the Shiite-majority country.

In April, parliament gave approval for military courts to try civilians charged with “terrorism”, a vaguely defined legal term in the Sunni-ruled kingdom.

Located between rival regional powers Saudi Arabia and Iran, Bahrain has been ruled for more than two centuries by the Sunni Al Khalifa dynasty. It is a key US ally and home to the Fifth Fleet.