The wife of an imprisoned Bahraini activist and hunger striker said he was being drugged and force-fed, but officials denied the accusations, saying the man had agreed to receive medical treatment.Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, one of 14 men sent to jail on charges of leading an uprising there last year, has been fasting for more than two months.
After her first visit to her husband in two weeks, Khadija al-Mousawi said, "I went to see my husband today and he told me that he was drugged last Monday. After he woke up he found two IV (intravenous) injections in his arms and a feeding-tube down his nose. It was done against his will."
In an e-mailed statement, Bahrain's Defence Forces Hospital said, "We want to be clear that the patient has not been force-fed or treated against his will. He has been taking limited nutrition supplements voluntarily, but when his blood sugar dropped significantly today, his doctors asked for and received his consent to insert a naso-gastric tube for nutrition. At no time was he drugged or restrained."
Abdulhadi al-Khawaja's wife said a doctor had told her husband it was his duty to begin force-feeding, but her husband saw the act as a violation of his rights. She said, "My husband told them he will only accept (the intravenous feeding) until his trial on Monday and depending on the outcome will decide what to do next."
Abdulhadi al-Khawaja was given a life sentence for demanding the creation of a republic. An appeal hearing is to be held this week in the case of Khawaja and 13 others jailed for their role last year's protests.