BCHR | Bahrain: Entire Family Sentenced to Imprisonment for Providing
 

04-03-13 05:43 PM

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On February 5th, 2013, the first lower criminal court headed by Rashed Bin Ahmed AlKhalifa issued a verdict of 1 year imprisonment for the members of a family, including the father (Abbas Hasan Mayoof), the mother (Fatima Ahmed Abdulla) and their son (Fadhil Abbas Mayoof), for the charges of “hiding a person who is wanted on a criminal case."


According to the court, the family has “provided shelter for a defendant accused of a felony” in their house from the 20th to the 24th of April 2012, although a warrant has been issued against him. The defendants have denied the charges at the court. Abbas Mayoof has said that his initial confessions were extracted under beatings and threats from the police, and that he had to sign papers while blindfolded. The court has issued its ruling without investigating the allegations of beatings.


Both Abbas and his son Fadhil were previously arrested from their house in Nuwaidrat on the 24th April 2012 after a house raid. They were held until the 17th of June 2012 while waiting for the trial outcome.


The family members who attended the court session on February 5th, 2013 were arrested immediately after the verdict. They were later released on bail on the 17th of February 2013 pending an appeal trial on the 10th of October 2013.


This is not the first case where citizens have been harshly punished for hiding individuals wanted by the police on politically motivated charges. Many of those wanted by the authorities are living in hiding for fear of torture if they turn themselves in. (For more information, see: VOICES: Forced into Hiding in #Bahrain But Speaking Out and Bahrain: Activists in Hiding as Crisis Continues)


The BCHR has reported previously on the case of Ahmed Maqabi, who is sentenced to 3.5 years imprisonment also for providing shelter to a wanted individual. Al-Muqabi reported that he was subjected to severe forms of torture including brutal sexual assault, and was denied medical treatment for the damages he sustained (Read: bahrainrights.org/en/node/5519).


The BCHR calls on the United States, the United Kingdom, the United Nations, the European Union and all close allies and international institutions to put pressure on the Bahraini authorities to:


1. Immediately and unconditionally drop all charges against the Mayoof family, Ahmed Al-Muqabi and all other politically motivated charges against the pro-democracy citizens and prisoners of conscience, and release them.


2. To launch an impartial and independent investigation into the allegations of torture and assault made and prosecute all officials involved in torture.


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