Dubai: A Bahraini court on Monday sentenced in absentia prominent rights activist Mariam Al Khawaja to one year in jail for assaulting police officers, her lawyer said.
Mohammad Al Jishy said the verdict was announced in the absence of Mariam, who said on Sunday she would not attend the hearing because it was “impossible to have a fair and independent trial” in the Gulf kingdom.
Mariam, a director of the Beirut-based Gulf Centre for Human Rights, also holds Danish nationality and is a daughter of jailed opposition figure Abdul Hadi Al Khawaja.
She has been in London since a travel ban was lifted on October 1, Al Jishy said.
Al Khawaja was arrested after arrival at Manama airport on August 30 on charges of hitting two policewomen, while she insists it was police who attacked her.
She was granted bail on September 18 pending trial.
Her father was jailed for life following 2011 Shiite-led protests that were quelled by authorities.
She has been active abroad in criticising the Bahraini authorities since the crackdown.
