Hunger Striking Son of Jailed Bahraini Opposition Leader Says He Won’t Give Up

Ali Mushaima, the son of a prominent opposition figure jailed in Bahrain since 2011, has been on hunger strike outside the Bahrainian embassy in London for the past month, demanding medical treatment for his father. Footage posted by Sayed Ahmed AlWadaei of the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy shows a doctor describing the poor state of Mushaima’s health. Mushaima then describes feeling weak and dizzy, but says he will not give up until his father has his “basic rights” and “medical treatment”. Amnesty International said on August 6 that Bahraini authorities had “deliberately denied proper medical care for four elderly jailed activists”. These were Ali Mushaima’s father, Hassan Mushaima, as well as Abdel-Jalil al-Singace, Abdel-Wahab Hussain and Abdel-Jalil al-Miqdad. Bahrain was “subjecting them to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and putting their lives at risk,” Amnesty said. The four were sentenced to life imprisonment in 2011, Amnesty said. Speaking to Reuters in August, Bahraini officials in London “denied Mushaima was being mistreated, saying he had been to the prison medical clinic 16 times since the beginning of 2018.” Credit: Sayed Ahmed al-Wadaei via Storyful