The Formula 1 Grand Prix in Bahrain may be called off due to mounting international pressure and continued clashes on the streets over the imprisonment of Danish activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja. The event, due this year on April 22, was also cancelled in 2011 after protesters calling for democratic reform were beaten and shot at by police.
Prominent voices within the racing world have called for the event to be cancelled again, while F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone stated last week that the contract may not necessarily be renewed.
After Bahrain refused to hand over Abdulhadi al-Khawaja last week, despite his poor health resulting from a two-month hunger strike, international pressure on the country has mounted. UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon has condemned the decision not to release the pro-democracy activist.
Speaking to the Telegraph, Ecclestone confirmed that the race can only be called off by the FIA, but said no racing teams have so far expressed concern. “Quite the opposite,” he said. “One of the teams sent a person over there recently – and I’ve spoken to them today actually – and they said everything’s perfect, there’s no problem.”
Chairman of the Bahrain International Circuit, Zayed Al Zayani, criticised “armchair observers” who he said, “have been driving this debate at the expense of those neutral parties who have taken the trouble to investigate the situation at first hand”.
However, human rights organisations have said it is inappropriate for the race to go ahead with the current security concerns.
“On the ground we see an increasing number of deaths, and serious injuries from tear gas and beatings,” Joe Stork, a spokesman for Human Rights Watch, told the BBC. “We’re seeing in the last couple of weeks a spike in confrontations, and clashes, with very deadly results.”
Khawaja, who gained Danish citizenship when living in exile in the country during the 1990s, has campaigned for greater rights for the majority Shia Muslim population in Bahrain over the last 30 years. He began a hunger strike in February after being imprisoned for life last year for taking part in peaceful anti-government protests.