Daughter of Danish-Bahraini activist worried over his health, says ready to take his place in prison

Copenhagen: Danish-Bahraini human rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja's daughter Maryam said that she is ready to take his place in prison due to his deteriorating health.

Khawaja is one of Bahrain’s most prominent human rights campaigners and has been working in the pro-democracy field for decades. He was arrested at his home in April 2011 and is currently lodged in a Bahraini prison. He was convicted of terrorism and attempts to overthrow the government and sentenced to life imprisonment. His family has been alleging that he is being denied crucial medical treatment.

Maryam called for urgent action from Denmark's government and said the central issue is that he should not be in prison to begin with. "I don’t know how much longer my dad has. I spend every day dreading each time the phone rings, as it might be someone calling me to let me know my dad is no longer around. I know he has serious health issues and the authorities are using [lack of] access to proper treatment as a method of punishment. I don’t want to wait around for my dad to be released to us in a coffin. I can’t do that," reported The Guardian.

She added that Bahraini authorities are treating her father badly for being a famous activist and dual national. She fears that her father's treatment is to set an example for 1,400 political prisoners in detention in the Arab nation. He is also denied alternative punishments allowing prisoners to leave detention and work under house arrest.

"They’re making an example out of him as [news of] his case reaches others. They are using him to ensure that others feel they can’t protest inside prison or continue to conduct activism in prison and get away with it. They’re doing everything they can get away with to my father," said Maryam.

"If my father dies in prison, I will hold the Danish government just as responsible as that of Bahrain. Not in the sense that the Danes are as bad as the Bahrainis, but when it comes to my father specifically, they will be just as responsible as they could have gotten him out of detention," she said in a video posted online.

She lives in exile and visited her father in 2014 but was jailed briefly.

Rights groups have been asking Danish authorities to raise the case publicly. "Al-Khawaja needs strong, public pressure from the Danish government to finally secure his release. At 60, his health is deteriorating from multiple health conditions resulting from the severe physical, sexual, and psychological torture he has endured while in detention, as well as a serious lack of medical treatment provided by prison authorities," said a report by Human Rights Watch.

The Danish government claims that it has been following the situation and consistently calling for the release of the detained persons including al-Khawaja. A spokesperson for the Bahraini government refused to address Maryam's allegation and said the Kingdom does not tolerate any mistreatment. He said al-Khawja is in prison for serious crimes and claimed that he has access to family, legal representation, and medical care.