Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): All indications raise concerns about the safety of Ahmed Jaafar, 49, after Bahrain received him following his deportation from Serbia, and nothing can ease these fears until he is allowed to meet his family and his lawyer is allowed to attend his interrogation sessions.

What is most worrying is the role played by the UAE in the arrest of the man who arrived in Serbia on his journey seeking asylum in Europe. 

The ECHR had issued an injunction saying the extradition should be postponed until after 25 February to allow Serbian authorities time to provide more information to the court.

The court also asked for further evidence from the Serbian authorities about the case and warned that failure to comply meant that Serbia risked breaching the European convention on human rights. However, Serbia didn't respond to the warnings.

The international police, headed by Emirati officer Ahmed Al-Raisi, appear to have played an important role in accelerating Ahmed Jaafar's deportation to Bahrain.

Emirati opposition have accused Al-Raisi of torture while supervising UAE prisons, and warned that his presidency of Interpol could encourage authoritarian regimes to abuse Interpol to arrest dissidents abroad. 

Ahmed's lawyers claimed that a judge in Belgrade informed the Serbian authorities and Interpol about the ruling last Sunday, before a private Emirati jet transported him to Bahrain in the early hours of Monday.

According to information published in Britain's "The Guardian" newspaper, the airplane was chartered by Royal Jet, a private Emirati airline headed by a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family.

One of Ahmed's charges was related to his alleged involvement in the March 2014 bombing that killed an Emirati officer.

Apart from the UAE role, the transfer of Ahmed Jaafar to Dry Dock Prison is also a matter of concern for his safety, as that prison is a detention center and not a place for serving sentences.

The fact that Ahmed Jaafar was not transferred to Jaw Prison to serve his prison sentence handed down by Bahraini courts in absentia means that he will be subjected to further interrogation in the notorious criminal investigation building.

His family received a call on Tuesday from the Interior Ministry asking them to receive his belongings. The family was informed that he would be transferred to the Dry Dock detention prison until the proceedings were complete.

The concerned parties did not mention the procedures they had to complete before transferring him to serve the term.

The criminal investigation building is one of Bahrain's torture centers. Ali Al-Shuwaikh, who was deported from the Netherlands to Bahrain (October 20, 2018), revealed that he had been subjected to severe torture before being forced to sign fabricated statements.

The UAE's role in the extradition of Ahmed Jaafar and his continued interrogation in the notorious CID building raise concern about his safety and fate, as he is now in the hands of officers of a brutal agency involved in torture that has been pursuing Ahmed Jaafar for years.

His life will be in danger if he continues to be deprived of seeing his family and if his lawyer continues to be prevented from attending the interrogation sessions.

Arabic Version