The Bahrainian government has turned down Denmark’s request to send a jailed activist on hunger strike to the European country.
Reports from the Bahrain News Agency on Sunday said that the country’s Supreme Judicial Council had ruled against the possibility of extraditing Abdulhadi al-Khawaja to Danish authorities because current legislation prohibits the government from sending convicted individuals abroad.
Al-Khawaja, who has Danish citizenship, was sentenced to life behind bars with seven cohorts last June for taking part in protests in opposition to the country’s current Sunni rulers. The uprising began nearly a year ago, as the nation’s majority Shiite population took to the streets in the wake of previous uprisings in the region.
According to recent reports, Al-Khawaja is currently undertaking a two-month hunger strike.
Meanwhile, Al-Khawaja’s daughter Zainab was arrested on Thursday after she clashed with authorities when she tried to visit her father in prison. She has been charged with assaulting a public officer but was released on Saturday, according to the Bahrain News Agency. However, a spokesman for the Bahrainian government said that he could not confirm that Zainab Al-Khawaja had been released.
Despite ongoing clashes in the streets, officials say that Abdulhadi al-Khawaja will be able to file an appeal against his life sentence later this month.