Bahraini authorities arrest prominent human rights activist and revoke her citizenship
Authorities in the Persian Gulf nation of Bahrain detained prominent human rights activist Maryam Al-Khawaja over the weekend just shortly after her flight arrived in the Bahraini capital, Manama. Al-Khawaja, who lives in Denmark, was traveling to Bahrain to check on the health of her father, pro-democracy activist Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, who is currently on day nine of a hunger strike to protest his continued detention.
Upon her arrest, Maryam Al-Khawaja was informed that her Bahraini citizenship has been revoked. Authorities interrogated her for allegedly insulting the king and charged her with assaulting two police officials.
For more on the subject, FSRN’s Shannon Young spoke with Nabeel Rajab, President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and Director of the Gulf Center for Human Rights.
Photo: Maryam Al-Khawaja with her father, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja. Photo via the Bahrain Center for Human Rights.