Petition launched for jailed Bahrain poet
Writers are being urged to sign a petition in support of Ayat al-Gormezi, a 20-year-old poet and student who has been jailed for a year after being arrested for reading out a poem at a pro-democracy rally in Bahrain two months ago http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/freeayat/
Dont worry about variations in spelling her name - if you feel strongly about her case, just sign the petition, please. According to a report in the Independent during her detention Gormezi was whipped across the face with electric cable, held in a tiny cell with the temperature near freezing, and forced to clean lavatories with her bare hands.
The Independent said she was jailed by a security court without any legal argument or her lawyer being allowed to speak, according to a family member present at the trial. Her case is discussed further on an Amnesty blog http://blogs.amnesty.org.uk/blogs_entry.asp?eid=7789
<Deleted User> (8730)
Fri 24th Jun 2011 12:26
I have been discriminated against on the grounds of mental health and physical disaability. I have won a Disability Discrimination case. I have been arrested falsely by police. I have been treated like a piece of detritus by Consultant Psychiatrists. I have been treated badly by lowly mental health professionals. I have worked in the Health Service, I have been an advocate, and I have trained Social Workers. I am now a national poet. Guess which job I like best? I am the GP Practice lead for Mental Health. I have had a brain haemorrahge. We are setting up a Community Mental Health Centre in Willington soon. So to all those who discriminate against the less fortunate - stick that up your pipe and smoke it!!!!