Denmark appeals for release of Abdulhadi al-Khawaja

All eight parties in the Danish parliament have issued an appeal for the release of al-Khawaja after his life sentence was upheld on Tuesday

Issued to King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa of Bahrain, the letter also calls for the release of al-Khawaja’s daughter Zainab.

“We are highly disappointed that the court review of Abdulhadi al-Khawaja’s judgment has not resulted in his unconditional release. We urge His Majesty to pardon Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, says the letter signed by all eight foreign policy spokesmen

“We insist that the basic human rights of all prisoners in Bahrain, including Mr. Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, are to be respected and that any prior abuse will be subjected to investigations with legal repercussions to the perpetrators.”

Alongside 12 others, Danish citizen Abdulhadi al-Khawaja had his life sentence upheld in a civilian appeals court on Tuesday. He is charged with plotting to overthrow the Bahraini rule.

‘We need to think about sanctions’

The foreign policy spokesperson of the Prime Minister’s party Socialdemokraterne, Jeppe Kofod, calls on the Danish parliament to discuss possible sanctions against Bahrain:

“It is deeply tragic and deplorable. I had hoped the Bahraini rule had deliberated further and released al-Khawaja. It is deeply disappointing, and we need to think about what kind of sanctions we can take against Bahrain”, Jeppe Kofod says to Danish newspaper Politiken.

Speaking to Danish news agency Ritzau, the Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Villy Søvndal, said the international community must keep its attention and pressure on Bahrain to comply with international human rights standards:

“The confirmation of the sentences in Bahrain, including that of Danish-Bahraini Abdulhadi al-Khawaja”, is very disappointing.

Read the Danish newspaper Politiken’s coverage of the case in English here.

The full letter of the eight Danish parties is available here.