Manama: Bahrain’s public prosecutor on Sunday released two former lawmakers, a lawyer and several other detainees held on security-related charges.
The release decision was based on legal considerations following a study of the cases transferred from the national safety court to the regular courts, Abdul Rahman Al Syed, a senior public prosecution official said in a statement carried by Bahrain News Agency (BNA).
Former MPs Jawad Fairooz and Mattar Mattar represented Al Wefaq Islamic Society in the lower chamber after they were elected in October in the quadrennial parliamentary elections. However, the two lawmakers resigned alongside the 16 other MPs from Al Wefaq to protest against the way the authorities handled demonstrations at the outset of the protests.
However, Jawad and Mattar were the only two lawmakers to be arrested in early May after their parliamentary immunity was dropped following their resignations.
Jawad is a senior leader within Al Wefaq and was among the 17 lawmakers who were elected in 2006 after the society reversed its 2002 boycott of the elections.
Mattar was the youngest MP to be elected in October.
In an interview with the Washington Times on Saturday evening, Cherif Bassiouni, the head of the royal commission investigating the events that hit Bahrain, said that 147 Bahraini detainees would be released “within hours.”
“I confirm that I have been promised that,” the Egyptian-American head of the recently launched inquiry, told the daily. The new mass release follows the freeing of 41 prisoners last week.
