Bahrain Mirror: Al-Wefaq Deputy Secretary-General Sheikh Hussein Al-Daihi said that "Hakeem Al-Araibi represents all the youths of Bahrain, all our young people are creative and look forward to the future, whereas the regime works day and night to destroy them, sabotage their future and turn their bodies into canvases for torture, abuse and injustice."

He explained that "What is happening to our people inside Bahrain and inside the prisons is the worst forms of humiliation on men, women and children. What is happening to Hakeem Al-Araibi reflects the widening circle of oppression, injustice and terrorism against our peaceful people."

"Believe me, if the footage of Hakeem Al-Araibi that was seen by the whole world had belonged to a country other than Bahrain, its government would have not accepted it, but under this repressive regime we are all meant to be degraded," he added.

Al-Daihi added "most of the world's governments would be outraged if one of their citizens appeared in this way, no matter how great the dispute was, but the Bahraini regime treats the people of Bahrain as enemies and enjoys retaliation against them."

"The world has seen the young Bahraini sportsman Hakeem Al-Araibi chained and dragged barefoot. This scene has shaken the entire world except the government of Bahrain, which boasts that it brought this oppressed man to this situation," he further stated.

Al-Daihi concluded "the people of Bahrain have always suffered from dictatorship and arbitrary sentences. What is happening today to the young Bahraini football player Hakeem Al-Araibi is only a sample of the injustice this oppressed people suffers from."

Arabic Version