Fourteen members of the British Parliament, including former opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, signed an urgent letter to their country's foreign minister calling for the release of opposition leaders in Bahrain, coinciding with the tenth anniversary of their arrest, according to Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain.

Member of Parliament Zara Sultana wrote: In addition to my last message on February 15, 2021, and before the tenth anniversary of the arrest of political leaders and activists in Bahrain for their participation in pro-democracy demonstrations, we, the undersigned, draw your attention once again to the continued suppression of democracy and political opposition in Bahrain.

The statement of these British parliamentarians said that this message coincides with the tenth anniversary of March 17, 2011, when 7 prominent Bahraini opposition leaders and activists were sentenced to life imprisonment: Hassan Mushaima, Abdul Wahhab Hussain, Abdul Hadi Al-Khawaja, Dr.

Abdul-Jalil al-Singace, Muhammad Habib al-Miqdad, Saeed Mirza al-Nuri, Sheikh Ali Salman, on charges of communicating with foreign countries and inciting murder and sabotaging public property.

Human rights organizations have challenged these cases, according to the statement.

"After a decade has passed, Bahrain is still suppressing any form of political opposition. Nevertheless, the United Kingdom still supports Bahrain's regime, despite being listed as one of the priority countries in the field of human rights in the United Kingdom," he added.

The statement said, "Therefore, we ask the government to condemn the suppression of the right to self-determination in Bahrain, by demanding the immediate and unconditional release of the political detainees: Abdul-Wahab Hussein, Abdul-Hadi Al-Khawaja, Dr. Abdul-Jalil Al-Singace, Muhammad Habib Al-Miqdad, Saeed Mirza Al-Nouri." And Sheikh Ali Salman, Abdul Jalil Al-Miqdad, in addition to the opposition leader, Hassan Mushaima. Reconsidering its relationship with Bahrain, as a country that raises concern, until the demands of the Bahraini people are adequately implemented. We hope that you will deal with this demand with the urgency it deserves. "

One week after the #EP resolution on #Bahrain, 14 British MPs (including former #Labour leader @jeremycorbyn) signed a letter to @DominicRaab demanding the release of opposition leaders on the 10 year anniversary of their unfair arrest.

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- ECDHR (@ECDHRbxl) March 18, 2021

Al-Singace completes his tenth year

For its part, Reporters Without Borders said that the Bahraini blogger Al-Singace is completing his tenth year behind bars, and his arrest was the first in a long series of arrests in the country since the outbreak of the popular protest movement in 2011.

He also said, "As Reporters Without Borders calls for his release, it also calls on the authorities to release all journalists arbitrarily detained in Bahrain."

"Over the years, the health of Abdul-Jalil Al-Singace, who is now in his fifties, has deteriorated," the organization added in a statement on Wednesday.

The blogger was sentenced to life in prison during a military trial in June 2011, when the verdict was upheld on appeal in 2012 and also in the cassation stage in 2013.

The organization said, "In addition to the muscle damage he suffers as a result of paralysis he suffered a few years before his detention, the Bahraini blogger is subjected to torture and medical neglect inside the prison, noting that the authorities are delaying the replacement of the rubber membranes of his crutches, which help to rest his shoulders on one side and prevent his fall." On the other hand, and in 2015, Al-Singace went on a hunger strike that lasted more than 300 days to protest his detention conditions.

In this regard, Sabreen Al-Nawy, responsible for the Middle East office at the organization, said, "We call for an end to the detention of Al-Singace, which has lasted for a very long period," adding "his health problems require special attention, which should, at the very least, lead the authorities to release him." "The sentencing of him with this severe punishment reduces with it all the sentences issued against the rest of the journalists who are being unjustly and aggressively detained in the country."

Dr. Hussain Abdullah, Executive Director of Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain, said that Dr. Al-Singace is one of the most prominent human rights defenders in Bahrain. ”His continued arrest and imprisonment embodies the highest practices of injustice and blatant attacks on freedom of expression in Bahrain, because he was arrested. He was tried only because of his activities in defense of human rights and freedom of expression.

"The recent European Parliament decision calls for his immediate release, and as one of the three countries that have an embassy in Bahrain, the French government must take a clear position and publicly demand the release of Dr. Al-Singace," he added.

It is noteworthy that Bahrain ranks 169 (out of 180 countries) on the global rankings for press freedom published by Reporters Without Borders in 2020.