Bahrain Mirror- Exclusive: Congressman James McGovern expressed his deep concern regarding reports that the Kingdom of Bahrain will host its 2016 Bahrain National Day celebration at the Trump International Hotel in Washington DC this coming Wednesday, December 7th.

In a letter he sent to Trump on Monday (December 5, 2016), McGovern explained that "in less than two months, you (Trump) will take the oath of the office and be inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States. With the immense power that comes with the presidency, it is essential that the individual in that office is held to the highest standards of ethics and transparency. Each president must ensure that there is not even the appearance of impropriety and using the office for no private gain."

He added "There must be no question about whether the president's decisions are influenced by foreign businesses and governments. It is therefore deeply troubling that the government of Bahrain would be spending untold sums of money at a hotel that you are leasing from the federal government to host a major public event intended to influence US policy."

"Bahrain is widely recognized as an increasingly repressive monarchy that has repeatedly imprisoned and tortured peaceful critics. As early as mid-December, Bahrain's courts could sentence human rights defender Nabeel Rajab to 15 years in prison for social media posts critical of their government," the congressman further stated.

McGovern went on to say "Peaceful opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman may have his already unjust four-year prison sentence lengthened due to re-trial on charges for which he was previously acquitted. Prominent human rights defender Mohamed Al-Tajer faces more than five years in prison for alleged offenses that violate his right to free expression. Former leader of the Waad part, Ibrahim Sharif, confronts charges for expressing concerns in an interview with the Associated Press that a visit by Britain's Prince Charles would serve to "whitewash" human rights abuses. These are just a few examples, there are many more."

McGovern concluded his letter to Trump saying "to protect the presidency from foreign influence, I urge you to release all correspondences between the Bahraini monarchy and your business, including price negotiations and final contracts and release all the correspondences between any foreign government and any of your businesses since you announced your campaign for president."

Arabic Version