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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Angela Giuffrida in Rome

Bahraini death row prisoner pleads with pope to aid his release

Bahrain Prison Pope Francis BIRD Gulf Torture
Pope Francis poster outside a cathedral in Manama, Bahrain
A Pope Francis poster at a cathedral in Manama, Bahrain, flags up the pontiff’s visit to the state from 3 November. Photograph: Hussein Malla/AP

A former airport security guard who is on death row in Bahrain for a crime he alleges he was tortured into confessing to has urged Pope Francis to call for his release during the pontiff’s visit to the Gulf state.

In a letter shared exclusively with the Guardian through the London-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (Bird), Mohammed Ramadhan, who has been in prison for nine years, asked the pontiff to “ask the king of Bahrain to release me and reunite me with my family and children”.

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