Maria’s Note: Bahraini Al-Khawaja retained at Cairo Airport

Yesterday, the Bahraini human rights defender Maryam al-Khawaja was stopped at Cairo Airport and banned from entering the country. After approving her passport and visa at the customs, an Egyptian policeman stop the activist saying “you are from Bahrain, like last time go back”.

The daughter of the famous Bahraini human rights advocate, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, was retained for hours by the security of the airport. According to al-Khawaja, the reason they gave her for denying her entry to Egypt was “top secret” and the order was given by the Egyptian intelligence service. Then she explained how Egypt has a black list from Bahrain, in which her name is written.

During the time she was retained, Maryam detailed what was happening to her via Twitter. She complained about the situation being the same with the new president and about the poor manners of the Egyptian police.

The young al-Khawaja who is the head of the foreign relations office and vice president for the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, could finally continue her trip to Johannesburg, South Africa.

Check out the whole story on her twitter timelime: @maryamalkhawaja