Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): This is where the situation in Bahrain has led us- a judiciary appointed by that King, practicing unprecedented brutality and cruelty. The judicial authorities have refused to replace the punishment of three sisters arrested in a political case with an alternative penalty, yet at the same time refused to imprison an Arab woman who tortured her child who was less than two years old back then, in order to ensure that the justice of the court be served by protecting the "reunion of the family".

The family of Amal, Iman and Fatima Ali Abdullah says that the judge rejected a request to replace the sentence of the three sisters under the alternative penalty law. The same alternative penalty law that the king ordered to be implemented months ago, and on which the Interior Ministry said it will be working to include a larger segment of prisoners for the purpose of integrating them into society.

The family says the judiciary also rejected a request for the temporary release of the three sisters, despite the harsh humanitarian conditions surrounding the family, since the three sisters and two of their husbands have been arrested.

The family explains that the public prosecution rejected their request to temporary release Iman and Fatima until their husbands finish serving their sentences on grounds that "there is no law prohibiting the imprisonment of parents at the same time".

Fatima and Iman have 4 children, the youngest is only 3 years old who is Iman's daughter, noted the family, wondering how both parents can be arrested when they have children! "Where is mercy and humanity? All we want is to at least halt the execution of the mothers' sentences until the fathers finish theirs, with the return of mothers to prison immediately after the end of their husbands' sentences.

As for Amal, the family says that the suspension of her sentence was not even offered by the judiciary in the first place, since she has no children, even though she had undergone surgery recently in Jordan, and suffers from diabetes and migraines. Amal's husband has diabetes and has lost his eye as a result.  Amal also is the one who follows the treatment of her mother who has cancer.

On the other hand, burns and bruises stated in the medical report were not enough to imprison an Arab woman convicted of torturing her daughter who was barely two years old. The court convicted her and suspended her sentence, on the grounds that her imprisonment "will separate the family, especially that the victim (the tortured child) has two brothers who need to be taken care of by someone."

The court added in its ruling that it noticed at the last hearing "the presence of the child victim and her two brothers in the custody and care of the accused," thus it considers that "the former detention of the defendant (pretrial detention pending investigation) is sufficient to prevent her from committing such acts in the future."

When it comes to political cases, the judiciary will apply the harshest laws against prisoners, the execution judge will refuse to release them even after serving three quarters of their sentence, the judiciary will refuse to apply the "alternative penalty law" to them, and they will certainly not be released on humanitarian grounds because of their old age or due to suffering from a deadly disease, as was the case of Elias Al-Mullah, who has cancer, and they will not be granted a royal pardon coinciding with religious or national holidays.

On the contrary, the judiciary will do everything in its power to keep them in prison for as long as possible. This was the case of hundreds of political prisoners who found themselves after their arrests facing new malicious cases. The case of opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman is a clear example of that, for as soon as he came close to completing his sentence, the authorities launched a new case against him and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

We live in a time when judges act without mercy, tearing thousands of families apart, just because those who stand accused took to the streets to demand their rights and call for putting an end to the terrible sectarian discrimination practiced against citizens of the Shiite majority. However, the same judges show mercy to drug traffickers and drivers who caused the deaths of people while driving under the influence of alcohol. We see these judges issue commuted sentences against such defendants, so they spend the shortest possible time in prison, or are released under the alternative penalty law or a royal pardon.

Arabic Version