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Bahrain Frees Last Political Prisoners Ahead Of Democracy Referendum
WASHINGTON & MANAMA, Feb 13 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Bahrain's emir, Sheikh Hamad al-Issa al-Khalifa, on Tuesday ordered the release of the Gulf Arab state's last batch of political prisoners on the eve of a referendum on political reforms.
The releases came as the referendum to restore parliament and transform Bahrain into a constitutional monarchy under a national charter was set for a landslide "yes" vote following the emir's reconciliation with the opposition.
"We will say 'yes' to the charter because we are convinced it will reestablish the constitution, restore democracy and turn a new page," Shiite opposition leader Sheikh Abdul Amir al-Jamri said in a newspaper interview.
The official GNA news agency said the emir, al-Khalifa, pardoned 16 prisoners in a decree, listing their names.
The pardon of eight Bahraini Shiite Muslims who were jailed for the murder of seven Bangladeshis in an arson attack in a Bahrain restaurant in south Manama during a wave of anti-government unrest in 1996 has caused frictions between the emirate and Bangladesh.
Human rights activists in Bangladesh sharply criticized the amnesty of the eight, with the Bangladesh Legal Aid Services Trust calling the pardon an outrage for the families of the dead.
Nevertheless, "The emir has just ordered the release of the last political prisoners and detainees in Bahrain," Jamri said. "This measure, coming on the eve of the referendum, puts an end to the presence of political detainees or prisoners."
A senior opposition figure, Abdul Wahab Hussein, said Monday that the last prisoners were expected to go free within 24 hours in line with a general amnesty, but he gave their number as 19.
The emir declared the amnesty last week, releasing on parole 289 political prisoners and allowing the return of 108 exiles, in the run-up to the two-day referendum.
Opposition sources said another prisoner went free earlier Tuesday but that two more, both of them stateless, were still being detained. The opposition was in contact with the royal palace to secure their imminent release.
"The emir has given an assurance that all the political prisoners will be freed," said Hussein.
Jamri said Sheikh Hamad had also guaranteed that parliament would retain full legislative powers, the charter would not replace the constitution, and workers and students suspended in anti-government unrest would return to their jobs and faculties.
The February 14-15 referendum on a national charter to restore parliament, which was dissolved two years after it opened in 1973 for "obstructing" the government, marks the culmination of a liberalization process the emir launched after the death of his father, Sheikh Issa, in March 1999.
By the time he decreed the political amnesty, hundreds of dissidents held for their role in the unrest against the ruling elite between 1994 and 1999 that left at least 38 dead had already been released in small groups.
Political debate on national issues has also been encouraged after years of oppression.
And the emir has gone out of his way to receive and to visit Shiite figures, many of them former detainees, who represent some 60% of the population in a country ruled by a Sunni dynasty.
Jamri and Hussein were among the four who declared total support for the charter after being told the future parliament would enjoy full powers with no interference from an appointed consultative council.
The national charter was published in December as a blueprint for turning Bahrain into a kingdom with "separation of powers" and "the right of the people to participate in public affairs."
It also called for the setting up of the consultative council whose members would be appointed by the emir.
Some 217,000 Bahrainis over the age of 21, or just over half the indigenous population, are called on to vote in the ballot.
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