Royal pardon three appeal for return of former posts
By TARIQ KHONJI
Published: 31st January 2007
THREE men freed from jail sentences, including two convicted of taking part in an illegal demonstration that ended in violent clashes with police, are appealing to the Interior Ministry for their jobs back.
They say that they have full pardons from His Majesty King Hamad, which require them to be reinstated, but which are being ignored by the ministry.
The men say that they are unable to find jobs elsewhere, because they are still registered as government employees.
Abdul Ameer Madan, a former technical inspector and Hassan Abdulnabi, a mechanic, want to go back to their jobs at the General Directorate of Traffic. Both were arrested following clashes with police at Bahrain International Airport in December 2005.
Royal pardon three appeal for return of former posts
By TARIQ KHONJI
Published: 31st January 2007
THREE men freed from jail sentences, including two convicted of taking part in an illegal demonstration that ended in violent clashes with police, are appealing to the Interior Ministry for their jobs back.
They say that they have full pardons from His Majesty King Hamad, which require them to be reinstated, but which are being ignored by the ministry.
The men say that they are unable to find jobs elsewhere, because they are still registered as government employees.
Abdul Ameer Madan, a former technical inspector and Hassan Abdulnabi, a mechanic, want to go back to their jobs at the General Directorate of Traffic. Both were arrested following clashes with police at Bahrain International Airport in December 2005.
They were each sentenced to a year in prison for causing a disturbance in a public place but released after serving nine months, following a Royal pardon three months ago.
Abbas Abdali was a maintenance worker at the Interior Ministry who lost his job after he was convicted of filing a false police complaint that he was beaten up by unknown masked men in Askar in July.
However, he claims that the charges may have been brought against him because of his involvement in the Unemploy-ment Committee, an unofficial organisation championing the cause of the unemployed.
Police said that he was actually attacked by angry villagers after he was caught after a night out with a maid from a resident’s home.
He was jailed for two months but released after a month, about five months ago, and has been unemployed since.
Mr Abdulnabi said that they had been referred by the ministry to several departments, none of which could find a solution to their plight.
“I still get salary slips from the ministry, but the amount written on it is BD0,” he said.
“We are still officially employed by the ministry, but we don’t get any income from it.
“The pardon says they should give us our jobs back, but if they insist on going against it they should at least let us go, so we can find work somewhere else.”
Mr Madan said that they had been promised by senior ministry officials that something would be done, but months pass with nothing happening.
An Interior Ministry spokesman said that the three men’s names were on file and that there were procedures being undertaken regarding their cases.
The three men were also briefly re-arrested (in Mr Abdali’s case, twice) for protesting outside the ministry late last year.
The demonstration at the airport in 2005 was in protest against the arrest of cleric Shaikh Mohammed Sanad on his return from Iran.
He was later released.
© Gulf Daily News
