Day 55 of Abdulhadi al-Khawaja “freedom or death” hunger strike as Court schedules Appeal case for 23 April

Lawyers appeal sentence for Bahrain hunger striker
2 April, 2012 – Associated Press – AJC

MANAMA, Bahrain — Lawyers for a Bahraini human rights activist who is on hunger strike and attorneys for 20 other opposition figures appealed their convictions on anti-state charges on Monday.

Activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja is serving a life sentence for his role in last year’s uprising in the Gulf kingdom. Seven other prominent opposition leaders were also sentenced to life imprisonment. Another 12 received lengthy prison sentences in a special security court, which was set up after the country imposed martial law last March to quell political unrest.

Al-Khawaja was arrested in April during a government crackdown on protests staged by the country’s Shiite majority demanding greater rights from Sunni rulers.

His lawyer Mohammed al-Jaishi said that he and the attorneys for the other 20 leaders appealed their clients’ convictions and sentences during Monday’s session in Bahrain’s Court of Cassation.

The attorneys also asked a five-judge panel to free the prisoners on bail — a request the judges declined, al-Jaishi said.

Another hearing in the case was set for April 23.

The 21 activists were convicted by a special security court in June of participating in efforts to overthrow the ruling dynasty. Of those, seven had been tried in absentia.

Al-Khawaja has been on hunger strike for more than 50 days. He has been refusing food since Feb. 8.

Last week, Amnesty International urged Bahrain to free him because of fears he could die. …more