Bahrain
Two journalists die during police custodyPosted Apr 20 2011
Karim Fakhrawi, founder of Bahrain’s independent daily Al-Wasat, died in government custody on April 12, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Fakhrawi was held since April 5, when he had gone to a police station to complain that authorities were about to bulldoze his house.
“Bahrain’s official news agency said on its Twitter feed that Fakhrawi died of kidney failure,” reported CPJ. “Photographs published online, however, show a body identified as that of Fakhrawi with extensive cuts and bruises.”
The government has announced that it will file criminal charges against three senior editors of Al-Wasat, has already deported two senior staff members and accused the paper of news fabrication, reported CPJ.
Reporters Without Borders echoed the same outrage as CPJ. “A total of four people have now died in custody,” an update from Reporters Without Borders said. “Bahrain’s authorities are responsible for all these places of detention. They must account for these deaths and respond to the allegations of systematic mistreatment or even torture of detainees.”
Al-Wasat has faced threats and censorship since its debut in 2002.
Another online journalist, Zakariya Rashid Hassan al-Ashiri, died “under mysterious circumstances while in government custody,” according to CPJ. “Authorities claimed that al-Ashiri, who died April 9, had suffered complications from sickle cell anemia.”