30 August 2011
MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — Bahrain says a royal pardon for some protest-linked suspects includes a 20-year-old woman sentenced to a year in prison for reciting poetry critical of the Gulf nation’s crackdown on an uprising.
A statement Tuesday from Bahrain’s information authority says the king’s pardon extends to Ayat al-Qurmezi, who gained prominence for verses denouncing the attacks on Shiite-led protesters.
30 August 2011
MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — Bahrain says a royal pardon for some protest-linked suspects includes a 20-year-old woman sentenced to a year in prison for reciting poetry critical of the Gulf nation’s crackdown on an uprising.
A statement Tuesday from Bahrain’s information authority says the king’s pardon extends to Ayat al-Qurmezi, who gained prominence for verses denouncing the attacks on Shiite-led protesters.
The statement, however, did not give the full total of those pardoned Sunday by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
Al-Qurmezi was convicted in June of anti-state charges. Hundreds of people were arrested after protests began in February.
Bahrain’s majority Shiite claim they face widespread discrimination by Sunni rulers.
guardian
More:
- Independent: Poet jailed in protests claims she was beaten by Bahraini royal
- Telegraph: Bahraini woman poet tells of torture while in custody
- Huffington Post: A Freedom Poet: The Ai Weiwei of the Middle East
- Amnesty International – Urgent Action: Bahraini activist jailed for reading poem
- Amnesty International – Bahraini poet set to face verdict for protest reading
- The Independent – Detained poet ‘beaten across the face with electric cable’
- BCHR Report: Death threats and arrest as a direct result of expressing opinion, All in the name of “National Safety”
- English Pen – Bahrain: Poet and writer arrested; fears for their safety
- The Independent – Locked up for reading a poem
- The Telegraph – Female poet brought before Bahrain military tribunal
- Jadaliyya: A Poetry of Resistance: The Disappearance of Ayat al-Qormezi in Bahrain’s “Hidden History”
- Documentary about Ayat
- A solidarity campaign for her release on Facebook
- English translation of her poem