Bahrain’s Revolution anniversary marked, Saudi executions increase
The 12th anniversary of the Bahrain Revolution was marked by the people in the past few days with vigour and determination. Protests were held in most areas despite the regime’s brutality, intimidation and arrests. The demonstrations called for fundamental political change and were held in towns and cities including: Samahij, Al-Ma’amir, Saar, Demstan, Dar Klaib, Sanabis, Karbabad, Sehla, Sitra, Karranah, Karazakkan, Shahrakkan, Al-Musalla, Al Dair, Nuwaidrat, Barbar, Abu Saiba, Al-Daih and Duraz. Many walls were covered with slogans. Calls were also made by relatives who stood along the main roads, for the release of political prisoners.
To pre-empt the renewed people’s revolt, the regime waged an all-out attack on native Bahrainis, arresting many people. Among the detainees are: Mohammad Sayed Mahmood, Ahmed Ibrahim and Sayed Hassan Sayed Isa from Al Markh Town. From Sanabis Ahmad Radhi was detained for expressing anti-regime views. Another young Bahraini was hauled off to prison after being sentenced to six months behind bars. Ali Abdullah was taken to Dry Dock prison over politically motivated charges. Two native Bahrainis from Al Malkiya were also detained: Hussein Kadhem Abdullah Ali Al-Shakhouri and Al-Sayyed Ali Al-Sayed Adnan.
Yesterday, hackers said they had taken down the websites of Bahrain’s international airport, state news agency and chamber of commerce to mark the 12th anniversary of an Arab Spring uprising in the country. A statement posted online by a group calling itself Al-Toufan, or “The Flood” in Arabic, claimed to have hacked the airport website, which was unavailable for at least a half hour in the middle of the day. It also claimed to have taken down the websites of the state-run Bahrain News Agency, which was sporadically unavailable midday, and the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce, which was taken down in the afternoon before access was later restored. The group posted images showing 504 Gateway Timeout Errors, saying the hacking was “in support of the revolution of our oppressed people of Bahrain.” The group appears to have hacked and changed articles on the website of Akhbar Al Khaleej, a pro-government newspaper in Bahrain. The newspaper’s website was still down Tuesday night.
A Bahraini youth, Hussain Al Qassab is still carrying his scars after being severely tortured when he participated in marking the 4thanniversary of the Revolution in February 2015. Human Rights activist and veteran victim of torture, Mrs Ibtisam Al Saegh went to visit him recently and asked him about his feelings He proudly said: I am steadfast and determined. Khalifi torture failed to break his will.
Mrs Fadeela Abdul Rasool, her husband, Sayed Radhi and his brother, Sayed Jaffar will, once again, stand trial on 20th February. Last year they were acquitted of the charge of helping a political prisoner who had escaped from jail. The prisoner was no one other than their son who had been illegally detained. The regime’s prosecutors had appealed against the acquittal, on orders from the royal court. The family is now, once again, facing an uncertain future for sheltering their son.
The British foreign secretary, James Cleverly, has been urged by humanitarian organisations to issue a correction over a “misleading” Foreign Office (FCDO) report on Bahrain, as they say it represents a “dangerous whitewash” on human rights that risks emboldening abusers in the Gulf state. A letter to the foreign secretary, signed by Human Rights Watch (HRW), Reprieve and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (Bird), said the report is “fraught with inaccuracies” and amounts to disinformation that could be used as propaganda by the government.
On October 3, 2022, Saad Almadi, a Saudi-American citizen was sentenced by the Saudi Specialised Criminal Court to 16 years in prison in relation to tweets he had posted, on the basis of the Counter-Terrorism and Cybercrime Laws. His sentence was increased to 19 years on appeal. He is currently detained in al-Ha’ir prison in Riyadh. On November 21, 2021, Saad Almadi flew to Saudi Arabia to visit his family. After landing at the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, he disappeared. Though his family later informally learned that he had been arrested, they did not obtain further official information on his fate and whereabouts. It was only four months later, in late March 2022, that the U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia confirmed that he had been detained in al-Ha’ir prison after visiting him. The U.S. Embassy visited him again on August 10, 2022.
The Saudi state executed 148 individuals during 2022, more than twice as many as in 2021, including the execution of 81 men in a single day. Executions for drugs-related offences made a dramatic comeback, despite the previous announcement of a moratorium on such punishments.
Saudi Arabia has sentenced preacher Awad al-Qarni to death for tweeting “his opinion” on the Kingdom. It’s the latest in a long list of oppressions against the Saudis by the regime led by Mohammed Bin Salman.