1. Ayat Hassan Mohammed Al-Qurmezi is a poet and student at the University of Bahrain Teaching Institute in Bahrain.
22 Facts About Ayat Al-Qurmezi
1. 2.
Ayat Al-Qurmezi was arrested and detained in conditions of secrecy, and rumours of her death in custody led to protests by Iranian activists.
3.
Ayat Al-Qurmezi was sentenced to a term of imprisonment, which she was allowed to serve under house arrest.
4.
On Wednesday, 23 February 2011, during the early days of the Bahraini uprising, Ayat Al-Qurmezi delivered a poem from the podium to the gathering of pro-democracy demonstrators at the Pearl Roundabout, that was critical of government policies and specifically those of Khalifa ibn Salman Al Khalifa, the prime minister of Bahrain.
5.
Since then, Ayat Al-Qurmezi has been exposed to several forms of harassment and death threats that included herself and her family.
6.
Ayat Al-Qurmezi has reportedly received numerous phone calls threatening her life and safety.
7.
The next day Ayat Al-Qurmezi was arrested after police raided her parents' house a second time and forced four of Ayat's brothers at gunpoint to lie on the floor.
8.
Ayat Al-Qurmezi's parents felt they had no choice but to ask her to return home.
9.
The riot troops and police who took Ayat Al-Qurmezi away had told Ayat Al-Qurmezi's mother Sa'ada that after she had been interrogated and signed some documents, the family would be allowed to collect her from Al-Howra police station and take her home.
10.
Ayat Al-Qurmezi complained about the absurdity of this advice when it was the police themselves who had taken Ayat away.
11.
Pictures of Ayat Al-Qurmezi began to turn up on dating and pornographic websites.
12.
Ayat Al-Qurmezi told her that she had been forced to sign a false confession.
13.
Sa'ada was told in confidence that Ayat Al-Qurmezi was in a military hospital being treated for injuries inflicted while she was tortured.
14.
Ayat Al-Qurmezi told her mother that she had been interrogated several times at the interrogation centre where she was taken after her arrest.
15.
Ayat Al-Qurmezi was expelled from university, apparently as part of a government purge of students and university employees accused of supporting the protests.
16.
Ayat Al-Qurmezi noted that Ayat al-Qarmezi had been put on trial merely for expressing her opinion, peacefully and openly, and describing her case as an appalling and sinister attack on free speech, he called for the charges against her to be dropped and for her to be released immediately.
17.
The Ayat Al-Qurmezi was intercepted and turned back by the Bahraini navy.
18.
Ayat Al-Qurmezi believed that from time to time a gas of some kind was circulated through the cell's air conditioning system which made her feel that she was suffocating.
19.
Ayat Al-Qurmezi was struck around the face with an electric cable and made to clean lavatories with her bare hands.
20.
On 12 June 2011, Ayat Al-Qurmezi was found guilty and sentenced to one year's imprisonment.
21.
Ayat Al-Qurmezi had not received an official pardon, and her conviction had not been overturned on appeal.
22.
On 1 October 2014, it was announced that Ayat Al-Qurmezi was awarded the 2015 Student Peace Prize "for her unwavering struggle for democracy and human rights in Bahrain".