International calls grow for Bahraini doctor release
Medical professionals and organizations from around the world have submitted a petition to the king of Bahrain, calling for the release of a prominent doctor who has been held behind bars for five years now.
According to the reports, the letter posted online by Amnesty International on Thursday saw 153 doctors and nurses, along with Amnesty itself and two medical organizations, calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Ali Esa Mansoor al-Ekri from prison.
Ekri was imprisoned on 17 March, 2011, when he was reportedly operating a child in Salmaniya Medical Complex in Manama.
His arrest was apparently due to his treatment of people who had been injured during anti-regime peaceful protests in Manama. The physician had also in an interview denounced the excessive use of force by police and security forces against protesters during mass demonstrations that erupted across Bahrain in February-March 2011. Ekri had himself participated in the protests.
The letter, which was addressed to the self-styled King Shaikh Hamad bin Issa Aal-e Khalifa and the country’s Minister of Interior Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Aal-e Khalifa, expressed concern that Ekri remains behind bars “solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression and assembly.”
The letter reminded Bahraini regime that Ekri has been designated by the Britain-based Amnesty as a prisoner of conscience, saying the main reason for his arrest was “his vocal denunciation” of Bahrain's crackdown on dissent.
SS
