Bahrain Mirror: At least 500 prisoners are on hunger strike inside a Bahraini prison primarily used to detain prisoners of conscience, refusing food in protest at their detention conditions, the Guardian newspaper reported.

Sayed Al-Wadaei, at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (Bird) and a former inmate at Jau prison, said: "This is probably one of the most powerful strikes that has ever happened inside the Bahraini prison system; the scale of it is overwhelming."

the newspaper reported Maryam Al-Khawaj, daughter of prisoner of conscience Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, as saying that "The lack of medical care was putting the life of her father at risk. "He has a heart arrhythmia and he is at risk of a heart attack or a stroke at any time. We believe my father needs urgent surgery to install a pacemaker."

Maryam Al-Khawaja pointed to the broad international assistance received by Bahraini authorities from abroad, including Britain.

She said: "The ruling family know they are incredibly dependent on their western allies ... in many ways they [the allies] have enabled the Bahraini regime to stay in power."

Family of Ahmed Jaafar Mohamed Ali, a dissident extradited from Serbia to Bahrain in 2022 that after he demanded to see the duty officer at Jaw on 15 August, the officer arrived and instructed other guards to pepper spray Ali in the face. He was then bound, with his arms behind his back and on his legs, before being taken to solitary confinement.

Arabic Version