"'The last resort': jailed former Qatar World Cup official on his hunger strike," 2 Dec 2021

The detained former Qatar World Cup official Abdullah Ibhais has repeated his claims of innocence as he enters the 17th day of a hunger strike in prison...

On Thursday, however, a voice note apparently recorded in his cell was published by the Dutch newspaper NRC with an audibly weakened Ibhais discussing his resolve to pursue his hunger strike “until I am proven innocent”.

In the note Ibhais said: “I’ve gone on a hunger strike because for me this was the last resort after I was denied the chance to a fair trial.

“I was denied the chance to be heard, I was denied the chance to speak up and after all I was detained whilst my trial has not finished yet. I was detained just to make sure that I don’t speak up, that I do not talk, that I do not defend myself, that I do not reveal the true story behind what happened to me.

“It is hard, it is very hard, and it is weakening, but this is my last resort and I am going to go through with it until I am proven innocent. Because this is how things are, I am innocent and I have done nothing wrong.”