Press release:
London, Thursday 31 July 2014
Bahrain Torture Survivor Isa Alaali Granted Bail Following Detention in the UK for Over Five Months
A judge at Newport Court today decided to grant bail to Mr Isa Alaali after nearly six months at Harmondsworth Detention Centre. At the end of June he was transferred to Campsfield House in Oxfordshire. Mr Alaali is still waiting for a date of hearing on judicial review on his asylum claim at the High Court. During the hearing, the judge said that the period that Isa has already spent in prison was “disproportionate.”
Following his successful bail hearing, Isa said:
“I am delighted at the comments made by the High Court judge who acknowledged the disproportionate treatment that I have suffered since my arrival to the UK. I arrived here fleeing repression and torture and did not expect to be imprisoned and treated like an offender for over five months. Thank you for the support that I have received from everyone which helped me through my time in detention.”
Solicitor Daniel Carey from Deighton Pierce Glynn who has been working as part of Isa’s legal council said:
“Isa’s case is a salutary example of the serious flaws in the Home Office’s ‘detained fast track’ asylum system. He arrived fleeing persecution, was sentenced in absentia, has been vilified by the Bahraini regime, was supported by human rights NGOs, and yet despite all this it still took nearly six months to get out of detention. I hope that the Home Office will now agree to compensate him for the distress of the last six months.”
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei from the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy attended the 29 July hearing. He said:
“Despite the great efforts by NGOs, members of Parliaments and human rights activists it took nearly six months for Isa to be released from detention. It is shocking to witness Isa, a victim systematic torture in Bahrain imprisoned like a criminal on arrival whilst correspondingly, the UK continues to welcome Bahraini torturers in their country with open arms and impunity.”
The consortium of NGOs and activists are very happy that Isa is finally out of jail. We will continue to campaign for his political asylum claim to be accepted.
In May 2014 Isa was threatened with deportation back to Bahrain after the Home Office rejected his asylum claim. Following a high profile campaign, the High Court of Justice referring his case for a judicial review and issued an injunction against the deportation.
Special thanks goes out to (in no particular order): Sue Willman, Daniel Carey, Anthony Kasonde, John Horne, Alaa Shehabi, Maryam Al-Khawaja, Sarah Teather MP, Zac Goldsmith MP, John McDonnell MP, Katy Clark MP, Paul Dillane, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Redress, Human Rights First, Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, Bahrain Human Rights Society, Right to Remain, Jane Kinninmont, Lawyer Mohammed Al-Tajer, Jasmine Sallis, Janet Salmon, Esme Madill, Lisa Mathews, Unity Centre Glasgow, Michael Collins, Duncan Lewis, Deighton Pierce Glynn, Linda Williams, Moosa Abdali, Yousif Alkhoei and the Al Khoei Foundation.
For media inquiries contact:
Sayed Alwadaei: sayed@birdbhorg-801f1a.ingress-daribow.easywp.com
Dr Alaa Shehabi: alaa@bahrainwatch.org
Isa’s case has been covered by the Independent and Huffington Post, the Financial Times, Vice and IB Times amongst other international news outlets. A ‘Thunderclap’ campaign reached a combined social outreach of over 2 Million.
Stop this Deportation to Bahrain http://t.co/QqregWJ8Nb #TortureTeen @ThunderclapIt // @BirdBahrain_
— Human Rights Watch (@hrw) May 21, 2014
