Bahrain saw the worst unrest since the 1990s last month after protesters took to the streets as Arab uprisings spread across the region. The demonstrations prompted Bahrain’s king to impose martial law and invite in troops from neighbors.
Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja was arrested with two sons-in-law earlier this month as part of a government crackdown enforced with checkpoints across the city and villages. Hundreds of people, many of them opposition activists and politicians, have been arrested.
“The trial against him (Khawaja) started today but we family members were not allowed to enter the court. I don’t know what charges are brought against him,” his daughter Zainab Al-Khawaja said.
“My father called last night. He didn’t sound fine. I think he has a mouth injury because he could barely speak,” she said.
“He kept saying oppression is great,” said Khawaja, who on Thursday stopped a week-long hunger strike to demand the release of her family members.
Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, who lived in exile for 12 years before he was allowed to return under a general amnesty several years ago, was severely beaten upon his arrest, the Bahrain Center for Human Rights said.
He was imprisoned for political dissent in 2004 and later pardoned by the king.
A rolling crackdown has targeted Bahrainis who took part in weeks of street protests demanding more freedoms, an end to discrimination and a constitutional monarchy in the island state.
The United States and other western countries have expressed muted criticism but mostly kept quiet because of the strategic importance of the Gulf region.
Gulf rulers have accused Iran of interfering in Bahrain after it condemned the crackdown.
