Bahrain blogger 'tortured' in jail with Shia opposition
By Bill Law
Crossing Continents, BBC News
"He's a writer, he's a journalist, he's a blogger. Ali does not belong to any political party. He just writes his opinion."
Jenan Al Oraibi's dark eyes flash beneath her black hijab. She is speaking of her husband Ali Abdulemam, known as the Bahraini Blogger.
We are talking in the home of her friends in a village close to Manama, the capital city of this Gulf island kingdom, which projects itself as an Arab state that is open to investment, progressive about change and moving confidently toward democracy.
"Ali has a free pen. That is exactly his crime. He has a free pen," she says bluntly.
Ali Abdulemam is 32 years old. He worked as an IT specialist for the Bahraini airline Gulf Air. In his spare time he blogged.
But he was sacked from the airline after he was arrested in September and accused of being part of a terror organisation.
He was charged with spreading false information and linked to a group of Bahraini oppositionists who had been arrested in August.
Terror charge
All of the men charged are Shia. Some are academics, one is a dentist, another a geologist, several are clerics.
Like Mr Abdulemam, they have frequently voiced their criticism of a government they consider undemocratic and discriminatory toward Shia, who are Bahrain's majority population.
The ruling Al Khalifa family are Sunni Muslims.
The men were initially charged with plotting the overthrow of the government, but the charges were subsequently reduced to financing and leading a terror cell.
It's not the first time that Ali Abdulemam has been in trouble with the government because of his blog. In 2005 he was briefly jailed.
On his release he continued his criticism of the Al Khalifa government on issues like the detention of opposition leaders, the treatment of prisoners in jail and the suppression of free speech.
But nothing prepared his wife Jenan for what happened on 4 September.
"He got a phone call from the public prosecutor's office, asking him for a meeting. So he went." And that, she says, is the last she saw or heard from her husband for four weeks.
We were not able to know anything about Ali, no phone calls, nothing."
For several weeks after his arrest Mr Abdulemam, like the others, was denied access to lawyers and to his family.
His final blog before he was taken into custody was a call to support the detainees.
"The last thing he wrote was for those prisoners, defending them and now he is one of them," his wife says.
"The 23 detainees are all victims. They are all good people who have good jobs in this society. They are all innocent. My husband is innocent.
"They warned them, 'if you speak of any mistreatment, any torture, we will torture you even more'. But they are really brave, they are heroes, they decided to stand up and say exactly what happened to them."
'No mistreatment'
At the first hearing on 28 October, most of the defendants alleged that they were tortured in order to extract confessions, a charge the authorities deny.
In a written response to a request from the BBC to comment on the allegations, the government stated: "Standard procedures are applied fairly to all detainees in custody in line with the law. Their rights are being protected and no mistreatment has occurred."
Saeed Boumedouha of Amnesty International attended the first hearing as an observer, and confirms that when given the opportunity to speak, most of the defendants said they were tortured.
"Amnesty International remains very concerned about these allegations and we are continuing to press for an independent investigation," Mr Boumedouha said.
Jenan is the mother of nine-month-old twin girls and a five-year-old boy. Since her husband lost his job, she is the breadwinner. But she feels under threat too.
"During his interrogation, they threatened my husband that I would lose my job as well," she says.
When we visited her we were closely followed by plain clothed security officers in unmarked cars.
I asked her if she was concerned about repercussions because she had agreed to talk to the BBC.
"Definitely I am worried," she said. "I am worried for my children. I am worried for myself. But I will be more worried if I don't do anything."
The next hearing in the trial is set for 23 December.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12000292
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The Voice - The Prostitution of Australiaby thevoice1969969,004 views
bandargate is so big!! see it on wiki or google it the things we see today is just a part of the plan for Baharain
getrealmanplz 2 months ago
it looks great speech with nice & polite words she has chosen & we all should support her and all the people of behrain...
TheFawad123 5 months ago
doing this interview takes a lot of courage, I hope she is safe and nothing happened to her as well as my prayers for the safe return of her husband .
khoshashi 5 months ago
Your husband is one of the many men in jail for expressing their opinions..thank you very much for showing the crimes of the regime in Bahrain
MRAEA100 6 months ago
@alshe86d
we sunnis are Miranda not coca-cola nor Pepsi
this woman is fairly educated and her English seems to be ok
and she was polite in her choice of words, hopefully her Ali will be set free and Bahrain will be a safe place
away from Iran and its unwelcomed interference in the region!
--
If Bahrainis knew what Iran does to the Arab Ahwaz regardless of their sect being Sunni or Shiite, they would
love to remain away from any Iranian support, logistic or media wise and also religious!
peace.
extremelypolite 8 months ago
i know that Ali Abdulemam is shiee
but he is not there to represent shia
i am sunni and i think
shia and sunna should be brothers
we should be liberal and believe in the freedom of religion
believing should never be a reason for hate and loath
you like Pepsi, i like coca-cola, its that simple
but this women is well educated, i like her
alshe86d 9 months ago 2
If only more people stood up to be counted against injustice & suppression. A desirable value system all should aspire to.
"There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting."
Buddha
Kinkspace 10 months ago
all the greeting from Canada, we all support you keep it up we will stand with you. free to your husband this is really touching ;(
TheHuwaidah 10 months ago
amazing.
walaawonka 11 months ago
والنعم فيك
كلمة حق كلتي ولا تخافي غير من رب العزة
alkhanaizi 11 months ago