Worldwide Concern Over Critical State of Bahraini Activist · Global Voices
Salah Almhamdi

Netizens around the world have expressed their great concern over the deteriorating state of Bahraini human rights activist Abdulhadi Alkhawaja. The Bahraini authorities sentenced him to life imprisonment last year, and he has been on hunger strike since February 8, 2012 to draw attention to his detention. Bahrain has ruled out his extradition to Denmark as he is also a Danish citizen.
Netizens have been tweeting for his release using various hashtags, such as #StopKillingKhawaja.
A banner calling for the release of Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, September 14, 2011. Photo from Flickr by William Murphy (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Abdulhadi Alkhawaja's daughter, Maryam Alkhawaja, tweeted:
@MARYAMALKHAWAJA: today, 8th april, is one year since Abdulhadi Alkhawaja's arrest, when he was beaten unconscious in front of his family #bahrain
Another of his daughters, Zainab Alkhawaja, tweeted:
@angryarabiya: At this time last year my father was taken to the same military hospital he lies in now #bahrain
@angryarabiya: He had to undergo a 4 hour surgery in his face, they took bone from his skull to reconstruct his jaw #bahrain
@angryarabiya: And today, again… my father lays in one of their hospital beds. Starving to death for freedom #bahrain
Ali Abunimah, a Palestinian-American journalist and activist, tweeted:
@AliAbunimah:#StopKillingKhawaja Abdulhadi al-Khawaja is a man of conscience and courage. He deserves to live free.
Professor and political activist John C. Berg has called for Americans to put pressure on Bahrain:
@jcberg: Time for US progressives to pay attention to #Bahrain; leading HR leader in prison, hunger strike, nr death
Rasha Abdulla, a professor of journalism and mass communication at the American University in Cairo, tweeted from a protest at the Bahraini Embassy in Cairo:
Ruwayda Mustafa, a British-Kurdish writer and feminist, announced a protest in London:
@RuwaydaMustafa: We will be protesting in Solidarity w/Abdulhadi al Khawaja in London on Tuesday. Please join us! #StopKillingKhawaja
On April 8 activists hacked the Facebook page of Bahrain’s national airline, Gulf Air, and replaced its logo with a picture of Abdulhadi Alkhawaja.