Contact: Sharon Singh, [email protected], 202-675-8579, @spksingh
(Washington, D.C.) – A decision by the Court of Cassation in Bahrain rejecting an appeal by 13 opposition activists and upholding prison sentences ranging from five years to life is further proof of how the country’s justice system simply cannot be relied on, Amnesty International said.
“This unjust decision will confirm the view of many that the judiciary is more concerned about toeing the government’s line than upholding the rule of law and the rights of all Bahrainis,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director at the Middle East and North Africa program. “In order to maintain any credibility at all the Bahraini authorities must release these 13 people who have been imprisoned simply for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and assembly.”
Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 3 million supporters, activists and volunteers in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.