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After the interview, he was threatened. He was arrested and beaten. He also participated in a public debate. Expressing his views freely made him a marked man. Now he's dead. Responsibility points one way.
For weeks, security force violence caused many injuries. More occur daily. On April 10, Bahrain's interior minister authorized excessive force. Dozens of casualties followed. Many were from shotgun cartridge fragments directed on faces, chests, backs, abdomens, thighs, and other upper body areas.
For weeks ahead of race day, security forces raided towns and villages. Dozens of arrests followed. So did torture and other forms of abuse.
Imagine turning a blind eye and agreeing to be part of this. Writer/activist Finian Cunningham quoted a racing fan saying "(a) bunch of rich people hav(e) fun while others are being killed."
Ancient Rome scoundrels threw victims to the lions. Thousands turned out to watch. Bahrain Grand Prix racing fans aren't much different. Only spectacle watching matters, not raging state-sponsored violence on nearby streets.
On April 20, Der Spiegel interviewed Abdhulhadi Alkhawaja's daughter, Zainab. He's a longtime courageous activist barely clinging to life in prison after 74 hunger striking days.
<blockquote>Zainab said authorities are using the Grand Prix "to trick the world." Westerners "are supposed to believe that Bahrain is a country whose people live in peace, but we suffer under a regime that does not want to hear our screaming."
People across the country are fed up and want democratic change, she explained. "We will not keep silent, even if the Formula One is taking place. We will protest for human rights and freedom."</blockquote>
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