Brussels, 08/04/2021 (Agence Europe) – On Thursday, 8 April, the European Parliament’s Chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights Maria Arena (S&D, Belgium) and Chair of the Delegation for Relations with the Arab Peninsula Hannah Neumann (Greens/EFA, Germany) called for the release of Bahraini human rights defender Abdulhadi al-Khawaja on the 10th anniversary of his life sentence for “terrorist” activities. “No country can justify the restriction of freedom of expression and assembly, and the jailing of defenders promoting universal human rights”, they stressed in a joint statement. They also reiterated that, on 11 March, the European Parliament had adopted a resolution calling for the immediate and unconditional release of human rights defenders detained for exercising their fundamental freedoms in Bahrain (see EUROPE 12676/19). (CG)