Top Cleric Urges Continued Rallies to Demand Release of Prisoners amid Pandemic
“Show the world how the oppressed people stand up for their rights and never compromise on them. At the same time, they do not allow their anger and outrage to take them away from observing the norms of their religion and wisdom,” he said in a message to those taking part in the demonstrations.
The senior cleric expressed concern over the alarming situation of healthcare in the country’s prisons and jails, renewing his call for the immediate release of political inmates in light of the deadly coronavirus pandemic.
Sheikh Qassim, however, cautioned Bahraini demonstrators against covert attempts to hijack their protest movement and crush their demands for the release of political dissidents.
He also called for the protection of public and private property during the demonstrations.
Back on April 1, Sheikh Qassim had warned that political dissidents in Bahraini prisons are facing deaths and had demanded their immediate release.
The senior cleric called on the ruling Al Khalifa regime at the time to choose between the deaths of the dissident inmates and their release.
“One of the worst things that the government of Bahrain does is to keep prisoners as leverage for political bargaining, especially now that the coronavirus [pandemic] is attacking [Bahrain's] prisons with full force,” the cleric highlighted.
Protesters and relatives of Bahraini political detainees have taken to the streets across the Persian Gulf kingdom in recent days to demand release of their loved ones in light of the coronavirus outbreak.
