Awal Bankers take Bahrain to United Nations Court

Britain's The Sunday Telegraph newspaper has reported that the three British bankers, recently allowed to leave Bahrain after over a year's detention, have filed a complaint against the country with the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

In what will be seen as another blow to Bahrain, Alistair MacLeod, Anthony James and Cliff Giddings have alleged that they were the victims of an “arbitrary and illegitimate” travel ban, the Telegraph reports.

In papers filed with the UNHRC and seen by the newspaper, the bankers said that their “gentleman’s agreement” with the Bahraini government not to take further action was “morally and legally void” because of the continued harassment by officials in the kingdom’s central bank, believed to mean the recent filing of accusations in Bahrain's Lower Criminal Court.

“We regret having to do this, but the persistent behaviour of officials at the CBB [Central Bank of Bahrain] and the Public Prosecutor’s Office, who are behaving in a manner not as your King had led us to believe, leave us with no alternative,” wrote the men in a letter to Sheikh Khalifa bin Ali Al-Khalifa, the Bahraini ambassador to Britain.

This move is a highly interesting development, particularly because the bankers appear to make very serious allegations. As the Telegraph states, "among the allegations made are that the prosecutors in Bahrain have suppressed documents that could exonerate the men over their role in the collapse of Awal Bank."

Couple with the bankers action against UK investigative firm HIBIS, how the UNHRC acts will, no doubt, be watched very closely in Bahrain.

Read the Telegraph report here.