page_title: Abdulhadi al-Khawaja
section_title: Trial and imprisonment
hierarchical_section_title: Abdulhadi al-Khawaja / Involvement in the Bahraini uprising / Trial and imprisonment
caption_attribution_description: English: Graffiti depicting Abdulhadi al-Khawaja's face in the middle of Bahrain map
context_page_description: Abdulhadi Abdulla Hubail al-Khawaja is a Bahraini political activist. On 22 June 2011, al-Khawaja and eight others were sentenced to life imprisonment following the suppression of pro-democracy protests against the Bahraini government. al-Khawaja has previously gone on a series of hunger strikes while serving his life sentence, in protest of the political conditions in Bahrain.
  He is former president and co-founder of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, a nonprofit non-governmental organisation which works to promote human rights in Bahrain. He has held a number of positions and played various roles in regional and international human rights organizations.
  On 9 April 2011, al-Khawaja was arrested and tried as part of a campaign of repression by the Bahraini authorities following pro-democracy protests in the Bahraini uprising. Front Line Defenders expressed fear for his life following allegations of torture and sexual assault in detention. Al-Khawaja was sentenced on 22 June 2011, along with eight other activists, to life imprisonment. On 8 February 2012, he started an open-ended hunger strike until "freedom or death", protesting continuing detentions in Bahrain.
context_section_description: On 20 April 2011, Abdulhadi Al Khawaja was allowed to make a one-minute phone call to his wife. He informed her that he was supposed to appear before the Military Court at 8.00 am on 21 April. Before this call, al-Khawaja’s daughter had received a call from the military asking her to bring clothes for him. When his lawyers presented themselves before the Military Court, they were advised that the hearing was not going to take place that day.  They were given no further information and were not allowed access to their client.
  Eventually on 8 May 2011, al-Khawaja was put on trial by a military court with 20 other Bahrainis on charges of "organizing and managing a terrorist organisation”, “attempt to overthrow the Government by force and in liaison with a terrorist organisation working for a foreign country” and the “collection of money for a terrorist group”. The group, which included other noted Bahraini human rights campaigners including Hasan Mushaima and Abduljalil Alsingace, clerics and members of political opposition groups, were tried under emergency legislation introduced following the protest demonstrations in February and March.  With the exception of one Sunni, Ibrahim Sharif, all were members of Bahrain's majority Shia community.
  On 19 June, al-Khawaja wrote a letter (in Arabic) from prison about his health situation. (read translated letter)
  On 22 June 2011, al-Khawaja and eight others were sentenced to life imprisonment. Zainab al-Khawaja, who attended the trial, "tweeted" that after the sentence was read, her father raised his fist and shouted “We shall continue on the path of peaceful resistance!”, before being bustled out of the court room.  Al-Khawaja's appeal is due to be heard on 11 September, when it will take place before an ordinary criminal court, rather than a military court.
caption: A graffiti in Barbar depicting al-Khawaja's face in the middle of Bahrain map
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