Bahrain Mirror: Prominent Bahraini opposition leader and Secretary-General of Haq Movement, Hassan Mushaima, met with his family for the first time in nearly 20 months of deprivation of visits.

His son, Ali Mushaima, confirmed that his family, including his wife and daughter, were able to visit him on Thursday (October 11, 2018) for only 45 minutes.

He revealed that the visit came "after a special request from the British Embassy in Bahrain on behalf of my wife and daughter since they hold the British citizenship."

"The visit was not carried out according to proper standards," said Mushaima, "the family waited for two hours and not everyone was let in. The visit was almost canceled after my father objected to the repressive measures, including humiliating body searches."

He added that "after difficult negotiations with the administration, they agreed to cancel the humiliating search and insist on other measures, and the visit happened with difficulty," as he put it.

"We do not yet know whether the issue of family visits will be resolved after this meeting in accordance with procedures that take into account respect of human dignity and setting sufficient time for the visit, or will be a disappointing visit, especially since the issue of my father's treatment and the retrieval of his books is still unresolved," Mushaima further noted.

Ali Mushaima announced, on October 2, 2018, that he ended a sit-in outside the Bahraini Embassy in London that lasted for about two consecutive months to demand that his father receive his rights to healthcare and visitation and retrieve books confiscated from him. Mushaima stressed that his decision to end his sit-in and strike came after 15 MPs in the British Parliament vowed to adopt his case.

Arabic Version