Bahrain Mirror: Human rights activist Maryam Al-Khawaja said that her father, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaj, human rights activist who is sentenced to life imprisonment, had submitted a letter to the Interior Ministry's Sentence Execution Directorate to take advantage of the alternative penalty code.

"Imprisoned human rights activist Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja has submitted a letter to the Sentence Execution Directorate at the Ministry of Interior to take advantage of the alternative penalty code," Said Maryam Al-Khawaja in a written text posted on her Twitter account. "The motive is to accept the least possible damage, and not to waive the original demand of overturning the sentence and redressing the damages as required by justice and as requested by international organizations," he said in his speech. 

In July 2020, Al-Khawaja expressed his view on alternative sanctions by saying, "Activists and prisoners of conscience should not have been imprisoned in the first place. They should be given their freedom and the truth of their cases and what happened to them should be revealed. The perpetrators should be held accountable. He also said that the alternative sanctions program is nothing but a continuation of the sentence while restricting the prisoner's movement and activity, and the purpose is that the presence of the convict among his family will reduce the damage and risks resulting from his stay in prison."

She added that her father sees that "The procedures for implementing this program should not be based on selection and discrimination and should be characterized by respect for the dignity and freedom of conscience of the beneficiary."

Arabic Version