Bahrain Mirror (2019 Roundup): Three martyrs passed away in 2019, two of whom were killed by gunfire and the third died due to inhaling tear gas while taking part in a protest against the execution of two death sentences. The attorney-general announced in a statement on July 27, 2019 that the authorities executed two individuals, Ali Al-Arab (25 years old) and Ahmad Al-Malali (23 years old), after being convicted in an alleged charge of aiding detainees escape from Jaw Prison on January 1, 2017 and killing officer Hisham Al-Hammadi on January 29, 2017.

Prior to the implementation of the death sentences, families of martyrs Ali Al-Arab and Ahmad Al-Malali received a call on July 26, 2019 from Jaw Prison Administration asking them to come and visit their sons. Ahmad Al-Malali’s family visit was scheduled at 2 pm while that of Al-Arab was at 5:30 pm. The caller told the two families that any family member can accompany them in the visit. 25 members from Al-Malali’s family and 15 from Al-Arab’s showed up. This coincided with halting phone calls from Jaw Central Prison (building 1, 12, 13) since 11 am, in addition to a security alert during the times of the visits.

The families visited them for about an hour and a half and spoke after leaving the prison about tight security measures during the visit, and that the visit was carried out amid large security presence of riot police officers and policewomen, while every five people were allowed to enter separately. No information or news of the execution was reported to the death row convicts; however, a Yemeni policeman told Ahmad Al-Malali’s father: “Say goodbye to your son. Only 15 minutes are left.”

The authorities allowed only 15 members of Al-Malali’s family to see him after they had already allowed 25. This was preceded by a thorough search for two consecutive times and the passage of the death row prisoners between two rows of officers as they crossed the corridor to enter the private visiting room. When asked about the reason for the private visit, no one answered them. However, Al-Malali’s aunt insisted to know the reason. A policewoman told her to ask the officer, who replied that it was based on “higher orders”.

During the visit, Ahmad Al-Malali confirmed to his family his innocence of the charge of killing officer Al-Hammadi. He also recounted to his family details of his arrest in a boat while attempting to flee the country. “I was hiding under the edge of the boat and the bullets were flying. I wished to myself that one of these bullets would hit me so I would be martyred at that moment, but the bullet hit my wrist. I wished to become a martyr in another way, but it happened in the end and this is what matters,” he said.

Ahmad wrote his will during the visit and asked his family to open it after his execution.

The family of Ali Al-Arab talked about their last meeting with him and said that Ali confirmed that he didn’t kill Hisham Al-Hammadi and that he is satisfied with Allah’s judgment. “Ali told us that the police took them from their prison cells after having lunch and that he was transferred to solitary confinement, as they did with Ahmad Al-Malali. He was handcuffed and was only freed from the restraints before entering the visiting room,” Ali Al-Arab’s mom stated.

His brother said that he “arrived to the room in a gray prison uniform, and after we talked for a while, I asked him about the truth about the accusation of killing officer Hisham Al-Hammadi raised against him. He said: I have nothing to do with his murder. I do not know him and I do not even know the location where the incident took place.”

Families of Ali Al-Arab and Ahmad Al-Malali received on July 27, 2019 a phone call from Al-Houra police station asking them to immediately appear in person. The station demanded, in a phone call at about 5:30 am, that two members of each family attend. There, they were informed about the execution of their sons and were asked to get the two martyrs ready for burial in an undisclosed location amid tight security measures, without allowing them to take any photographs or choose the burial place.

Widespread protests erupted against the executions in several villages and areas across the country. Heavy tear gas was fired to disperse demonstrators in Bilad Al-Qadeem, which left one of the protesters, Mohammed Ibrahim Al-Moqdad (22 years old), killed due to gas inhalation. The security authorities claimed in a statement that he had died of natural causes, but his family confirmed that he didn’t suffer from any disease. Eyewitnesses said that the protest was suppressed by security forces that heavily fired tear gas. They said that Mohammed Al-Moqdad was among the protestors and when the gas heavily spread, he attempted to head to a safe place before he fainted. They confirmed that fatigue was visible on Al-Moqdad after the firing of tear gas at protestors.

Al-Moqdad was taken to the hospital in a private vehicle as the ambulance was late to arrive since the area was surrounded. The Ministry of Interior was quick to deny its involvement in the matter, and mentioned in a tweet that the death of a 22-year-old man in Salmaniya Medical Complex was due to natural causes according to the medical report and was not a suspicious death.

Arabic Version