Manama: Bahraini activist Abdul Hadi Al Khawaja, who is serving a life sentence for plotting to overthrow the government, has ended a month-long hunger strike, his lawyer said on Thursday.
“He believes that he has attracted attention to his case, and decided to bring his hunger strike to an end on Tuesday,” said lawyer Mohammad Al Jishi.
Al Khawaja, who is also a Danish citizen, stopped eating on August 25 in protest to “demand an end to his arbitrary imprisonment, and he has been satisfied with the reaction in Europe to his protest,” he said.
Al Jishi said Denmark had been active in highlighting Al Khawaja’s plight.
Al Khawaja, 54, staged a 110-day hunger strike in 2012 over his imprisonment.
He is among a group of people handed lengthy jail sentences for their role in the 2011 protests. Seven of them, including Al Khawaja, have been jailed for life while another seven remain at large.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch describe Al Khawaja as a “prisoner of conscience”.
His daughter Maryam, co-director of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights which has offices in Copenhagen and Beirut, was arrested upon her arrival in Bahrain last month.
She was released on September 18 after spending 18 days behind bars for allegedly assaulting policewomen at the airport. She is expected in court on October 1.
