Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): Activist Maryam Al-Khawaja, daughter of prisoner of conscience Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, greeted her father on the anniversary of his arrest and wished that he gets released soon, so that they can create new memories.

Maryam spoke in a video published on the Twitter account of the campaign demanding Al-Khawaja's release on his "unjust" arrest anniversary. She asked the followers to share their own videos on their memories with her father on the campaign's website.

"I have a lot of favorite memories with my dad, both personal and political, the amount of times I saw him stand up for other people and do the right thing," Maryam said.

She went on to say "My biggest regret is that I don't have enough adult memories with my father. I haven't had the opportunity to experience my father as an adult."

"My favorite memory with my father Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja is when we were young and he took us to school in the morning. He would give us a riddle as we were on our way to school and he wouldn't give us the answer until we're home. I would spend all day trying to figure out what the riddle is, because I really wanted to be able to tell him what the answer is when he picked us."

"I also remember how when we would be going home after a long evening, I would pretend to be asleep in the car so that he would carry me to the apartment so I don't have to walk," she said.

Maryam Al-Khawaja asked the followers at the end of her video "What is your favorite memory with Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja?"

Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja is considered one of the symbols of the February 14 uprising in Bahrain, and was nicknamed the dean of human rights defenders in the Gulf. He was arrested by the Bahraini authorities over taking part in organizing protests that began in Bahrain during 2011 to demand political reforms and end sectarian discrimination. He was sentenced to life in jail and was subjected, during the years of his arrest, to physical and psychological torture.

Arabic Version