Faisal Hayyat *

"I was never religious neither political. In fact I ran away from the latter as far as I could for an exclusive dislike. I lived with the former as any individual without excess, though in a slight negligence. But the stay in jail for 84 days for personal feud made me mature in life and made find God in me".

 
Background..

Possibly the journalist is a research project for an additional space of talk, my career saw several transitions. I started with Al-Ayam daily when I was seventeen. I was a fresh high school graduate. It was 1992. I practised journalism in the local news section until 1999, then I moved to work in Bahrain Training Institute in the Public Relations Department, then a worked in Bahrain TV through a programme "To Youths Only".

Faisal Hayyat in 85th happy to be realeased

In my weekly column "Direct Free", I had many battles against the prevailing mistakes in our sports life. I was frank and scathing to raise obstacles from within the section that prompted me to move to Akhbar Al-Khaleej daily where I remained for two years which were fraught with more career battles, that compelled some in the newspaper to issue explicit mandates not to touch on some sports organisations e.g. Muharraq Club and General Organisation for Youths & Sports after the increasing complaints by its officials about criticising them.

Later I moved to Al-Bilad daily which did not take too long because of some harassment as well. I abandoned journalism and focused on the field of sports analysis on TV, particularly after the increase of calls that I received from Gulf TVs specially the Qatari Alkass Channel where my name got famous through its programme “Al-Majlis” ⁽¹⁾. Possibly the most important instalment of the series that I took part in was about nominating the president of Bahrain Football Association Mr. Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa to the Executive Committee of the International Federation of Football, at that time I demanded him to focus on his work in the Bahrain Football Association and to try to realign the compass of his work rather than getting involved in foreign positions.

Faisal Hayyat talks in Al-Majlis programme

Why?..

Why that background about myself? That background included me in two fields that were retaliated against in a way or another; the athletes and the journalists. Both of them where targeted in the McCarthyism campaign that was waged by the state media. The media started its campaign with the athletes, that seemed special retaliation by a particular party. My participation in the media rally and not in the athletes' one, my being in the critical contact area between the two fields, and my troublesome record in journalistic criticism were reasons to rush my inclusion with the athletes, in a fat chance to take revenge on me and of course on others.

That is why my name and photo were thrown in the weekly programme “Exclusive Event” that had been introduced in the new programmes session shortly before February's events. The programme presenter was Fayez Al-Sadah who worked on air on the trials of the athletes who participated in the athletes' rally. The programme showed pictures with athletes faces being circled and tagged with their names and the sports organisation the athletes were affiliated to. One of the pictures shown was the upper part of the picture that showed me participating in the media and journalists' rally when I was holding a placard written on it “Free Free Press….”. They hid the part that had the writing, so that the picture seemed as taken from the athletes' rally and to be jailed for it for 84 days.

Before delving into my arrest details and what I was subjected to of abuse, I am telling you about my participation in the media rally on 20^th February 2011. I was invited along with the others to participate in the rally that demanded an independent and unbiased media, demanded media outlets that reported the truth as we saw it on the ground not as it was meant to be seen. We, as media workers and journalists, thought that the media had become one voice and there was no space for the other opinion. We participated demanding press and opinion freedom.

When I arrived at the Roundabout my colleagues started to flock. I was not holding any placard. A journalist sat writing the rally slogans. Each one took a placard and we started marching. I held the placard that appeared in the picture and because of it a heavy share of torture would wait for me. A colleague journalist said to me: “Faisal, come forward”. I came forward and became at the front of the march, and of course, at the front of the pictures that were taken. The fist that appeared in the picture would have a story for me in jail that I am telling you about it in the details later. But I can say that this unintended and unplanned picture would play a major role in setting a new personal history for me.

In the next part I go with you in the details of this experience...

Footnote

1.  My participation in one of Al-Majlis programme instalments. 

* A Bahraini Journalist.