Bahrainis Rally in Solidarity With Hunger Striking Inmates

Date: 19 August 2023 - 21:50

News ID: ۱۱۸۴۱۶

MANAMA (Dispatches) – Protesters have taken to the streets in Bahrain to show solidarity with hunger-striking prisoners at the notorious Jau Prison and call for their immediate release, as the ruling Al Khalifah regime continues its clampdown on dissent.
The protesters staged rallies in the capital Manama, the northern towns of Jidhafs and al-Maqsha, and the villages of Sanabis and al-Daih to denounce the Bahraini authorities’ mistreatment of activists in the Arab country’s detention centers.
The demonstrators held up pictures of Bahrain’s most prominent Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim and demanded the release of all prisoners of conscience being kept behind bars in crowded jails.
The participants chanted anti-regime slogans, holding the Al Khalifah regime fully responsible for the lives of the political inmates.
Anti-regime demonstrations have been regularly held in Bahrain since a popular uprising began in mid-February 2011.
People demand that the Al Khalifah regime relinquish power and allow a fair system representing all Bahrainis to be established.
Manama, however, has gone to great lengths to clamp down on any sign of dissent.
A number of the prisoners have reportedly lost consciousness as a result of the protest action.
In a statement published by Bahrain’s main opposition group, the al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, the prisoners said they were on hunger strike over prison officials preventing inmates from worshipping and subjecting them to 23-hour-long daily lockdowns.