Amnesty calls on Bahraini regime to allow ailing ex-MP to travel
Amnesty International has called on Bahraini authorities to lift a travel ban on a former lawmaker as the ruling Al Khalifah regime presses ahead with its clampdown on political dissidents and pro-democracy activists in the Persian Gulf kingdom.
The London-based rights group expressed grave concern over restrictions on the freedom of movement of Osama Muhana al-Tamimi, demanding officials in Bahrain to “allow him to travel unhindered,” Arabic-language Lualua television network reported.
منظمة العفو الدولية تطالب بتمكين النائب السابق التميمي من السفر لتلقي العلاج بعد تدهور صحتهhttps://t.co/h3EFs0THcV#البحرين #Bahrain pic.twitter.com/qROt1In7iG
— قناة اللؤلؤة (@LuaLuaTV) August 17, 2019
Prominent Bahraini human rights activist Ebtisam al-Saegh wrote on her official Instagram page on Friday that Tamimi was stopped at Bahrain International Airport as he was trying to travel to the Omani capital city of Muscat on board an Oman Air fight.
The former Bahraini legislator recently suffered a stroke, and his doctor advised him to receive medical treatment abroad due to a blood clot in his brain.
Tamimi entered Bahrain’s Council of Representatives after the by-elections of October 2011. He became known as a harsh critic of the Manama regime while in parliament and as one of the few Sunni parliamentarians willing to speak out against repression of Shia citizens.
He called for the resignation of Prime Minister Khalifah bin Salman Al Khalifah in an April 2012 speech. Tamimi called for the release of prominent human rights activist and prisoner of conscience Nabeel Rajab in another parliamentary speech on February 11, 2014.
On May 20, 2014, the Council of Representatives removed Tamimi from parliament in a secret vote following deliberations that were closed to the press.
Thousands of anti-regime protesters have held demonstrations in Bahrain on an almost daily basis ever since a popular uprising began in the country in mid-February 2011.
They are demanding that the Al Khalifah regime relinquish power and allow a just system representing all Bahrainis to be established. Manama has gone to great lengths to clamp down on any sign of dissent. On March 14, 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were deployed to assist Bahrain in its crackdown.
On March 5, 2017, Bahrain’s parliament approved the trial of civilians at military tribunals in a measure blasted by human rights campaigners as being tantamount to imposition of an undeclared martial law countrywide.
Bahraini monarch King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifah ratified the constitutional amendment on April 3, 2017.
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