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New rights bid to free teachers
By RASHA AL QAHTANI
Published: 23rd June 2008
BAHRAIN human rights activists will soon meet their Saudi counterparts to secure the release of eight Bahraini teachers, who have been detained in a prison there for more than three months, it emerged yesterday. The Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society (BHRWS) said that the Saudi Human Rights Commission had promised to provide the teachers with lawyers and medical treatment if necessary.
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New rights bid to free teachers
By RASHA AL QAHTANI
Published: 23rd June 2008
BAHRAIN human rights activists will soon meet their Saudi counterparts to secure the release of eight Bahraini teachers, who have been detained in a prison there for more than three months, it emerged yesterday. The Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society (BHRWS) said that the Saudi Human Rights Commission had promised to provide the teachers with lawyers and medical treatment if necessary.
“I have managed to speak to the commission in Saudi and they told me to provide them with a letter detailing all of our requests,” said BHRWS regional and international director Faisal Fulad.
“Once they receive the letter, a meeting will be arranged sometime next week so that we can work together and somehow find a solution to push the Saudi authorities to speed up the release of the eight detainees.”
Sayed Hussain Al Alawi, whose brother Sayed is one of the detainees, said that there has not been any word yet about the charges against the detainees or their release.
“I have not heard anything except that we will be granted a second visit sometime this week,” he said.
Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz told a Press conference on Saturday that case is still “at the accusation stage and the investigation will reveal the truth”.
“The issue is being exaggerated,” he added, in reference to reports in Saudi media that the detainees are being questioned over links to Iran.
A news website, www.elaph.com, quoting Saudi sources, had said that the teachers were detained after being suspected of spying for Iran at a prohibited military zone.
Bahrain’s government and the relatives had denied any such connection.
“Co-operation with the Bahrain authorities is continuing and we work as one system on whether a Saudi was detained in Bahrain or a Bahraini was detained in Saudi,” said Prince Nayef.
The teachers were detained on February 29.
Suggestions that the men had been questioned over alleged political affiliation with foreign powers surfaced in a report by the dissolved Bahrain Centre for Human Rights last month.
It states that Saudi authorities are reportedly trying to draw links between the teachers, Iran and Hizbollah.
The other seven detainees are Majeed Abdulrasool Al Ghasra, Isa Abdulhassan Ahmed, Mohammed Hassan Ali Marhoon, Mohammed Abdulla Al Momen, Mohammed Mahdi Khalil, Ebrahim Al Haddad and Abbas Ahmed Ebrahim from the Al Jaberiya Secondary Boys School and the Shaikh Abdulla Boys Secondary School.
rasha@gdn.com.bh
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