Amnesty fears for Bahraini teacher after re-arrest

Amnesty International has expressed fears for the safety of a former vice-president of the Bahrain Teacher’s Association following her arrest after speaking out against earlier abuses in the Persian Gulf state. Malcolm Smart, Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa director, said the manner in which Jalila al-Salman was arrested appears to have been “intended to intimidate her and her family and to put them through another terrifying ordeal.” “She has told us how she was previously ill-treated and verbally abused after she was arrested in the middle of the night by armed officials following popular protests in Bahrain last March,” Smart said. “This latest action by the security forces inevitably raises renewed concerns about her safety in detention,” he warned. Al-Salman was re-arrested in a pre-dawn raid on her house on Tuesday when she was seized by a force of more than 30 security officials, including riot police. Officials reportedly claimed that they were enforcing a court order for her arrest though they refused to produce a formal arrest warrant. Last month, she was convicted on charges that included attempting to overthrow the Bahrain regime after a trial before the military National Safety Court and is due to appeal to a civilian court in a hearing set for December 1. Smart said in a statement obtained by IRNA that Bahraini authorities need to explain why al-Salman has been arrested at a time when others who are waiting for their promised civilian court appeals have been allowed their release on bail.” “If their civilian court appeals are to go ahead, then there must be a totally new investigation, including into the defendants’ allegations that they were tortured and otherwise ill-treated in pre-trial detention,” he said. The case of al-Salman and other teachers persecuted in Bahrain has been taken up the British trade unions, who have written to the Bahraini ambassador in London three times but have yet to receive the courtesy of any reply.