Al Khalifa to Release Bahraini Female Activist: Report
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Bahrain's foreign ministry said that opposition activist Zainab al-Khawaja who is in jail with her toddler will be released for "humanitarian" reasons.
The Shiite mother was jailed in March after being convicted of insulting the king of the Persian Gulf kingdom by ripping a photograph of him. She kept her son, who is reportedly just over one year old, with her in jail.
The foreign ministry said Khawaja's release will be the result of its follow up on the situation of inmates with foreign citizenship held in "criminal cases,” AFP reported on Monday.
Zainab, who was sentenced to three years in prison in December 2014, is the daughter of prominent rights activists Abdulhadi al-Khawaja.
Another foreign female inmate, whose nationality has not been revealed, will also be released along with her four-year-old son, the ministry said.
"It has been decided that both of them will be released... taking into consideration their situation and humanitarian principles," the ministry said in a statement.
Since February 14, 2011, thousands of anti-regime protesters have held numerous rallies on an almost daily basis in Bahrain, calling for the Al Khalifa family to relinquish power.
In March that year, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were deployed to the country to assist the Bahraini government in its crackdown on peaceful protests.
Scores of people have been killed and hundreds of others injured or arrested in the crackdowns.
Amnesty and many other international rights organizations have frequently censured the Bahraini regime over the “rampant” human rights abuses against opposition activists and anti-regime protesters.