Bahrainis call for more rallies to demand al-Khawaja's release

Bahrainis have held several demonstrations in support of al-Khawaja since he began a hunger strike in February to protest against the life sentence he received last year and Manama’s ongoing crackdown on peaceful protests.

Meanwhile, Saudi-backed Bahraini forces have arrested al-Khawaja’s daughter, Zainab, for protesting against her father's detention. Activists say she has now been transferred to a prison outside Manama.

She has been arrested several times for taking part in anti-government rallies and staging protests and sit-ins against her father's detention.

Zainab had earlier said that her father’s health continues to deteriorate and that the nearly two-month hunger strike has put him on the verge of death.

Last week, Amnesty International called for the ‘immediate and unconditional release’ of al-Khawaja and other detained activists in the country.

"The Bahraini authorities have made pledges that they would release people, who were imprisoned for exercising their right to freedom of expression, but the continued imprisonment of Abdulhadi al-Khawaja demonstrates that they are not serious about fulfilling such promises," Phillip Luther, the group’s Middle East and North Africa director, said in a statement.

The rights group considers al-Khawaja a ‘prisoner of conscience, detained solely for exercising his right to freedom of expression.’

Al-Khawaja, the co-founder and former president of the Bahrain Center for Human Right, was sentenced to life in prison by a military court last April for "plotting to overthrow the government" but according to Amnesty, his conviction was based on a confession he made under duress, and no evidence was presented showing he had used or advocated violence during the mass anti-regime protests.