F1: Son of man sentenced to death in Bahrain appeals to Hamilton for help

The son of a man on death row in Bahrain has again sent one of his drawings to seven-time Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton, in the hopes that the 37-year-old British driver can help save his father’s life.

The boy, 12-year-old Ahmed Ramadhan, held the drawing of Hamilton’s No. 44 F1 car, up in front of media ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix, the opening race of the 2022 F1 season. According to the New Indian Express, Ahmed also issued an impassioned plea to Hamilton, saying, “I did this drawing to encourage Lewis. There are lot of stories that Lewis can influence and can help change.”

“Sir Lewis, another F1 where my innocent father is on death row. Please help free him,” added Ahmed.

Also read | F1: Vettel COVID-positive, to be replaced by Hulkenberg for Bahrain race

The Associated Press, which saw the drawing, also reported that Ahmed was accompanied by his mother Zainab Ebrahim during the 12-year-old’s interview on Thursday.

A copy of the drawing was also sent to the Mercedes F1 team by The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD).

This is not the first time that Ahmed has appealed to Hamilton to help his father. The 12-year-old had also sent another drawing of Hamilton’s car to the British driver in December 2020, a month after Ahmed’s father, Mohammed Ramadhan, personally wrote to Hamilton.

“When I was drawing the car, I felt hope that it might save my father’s life. I really hope Lewis Hamilton delivers my message so my dad can come back home,” Ahmed had said back then.

Hamilton himself had also commented on receiving Ahmed’s letter, and had told the press, “I think the saddest thing for me was that there’s a young man on death row and it’s not clear … and when his son writes me a letter it really hits home.”

Also read | FIR filed against Tennis star Maria Sharapova, F1 driver Michael Schumacher for fraud in India

“I think there’s definitely work to be done in the background and I definitely won’t let it go unnoticed,” the World Champion had further said.

In July 2020, a Bahrain court had upheld a death sentence against Ahmed’s father, Mohammed, and Hussain Moosa, both of whom have been convicted of murdering a police officer in a bomb attack.

However, the aforementioned incident took place in 2011 when mass protests had broken out in Bahrain, and it is alleged that Mohammed and Hussain’s confessions were extracted through torture, with Amnesty International calling the court ruling “grossly unfair.”