FORMULA ONE and the FIA, motorsport’s world governing body, have been called on to visit the tortured Bahraini political prisoner Najah Yusuf in prison ahead of Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix and to use their influence in the autocratic monarchy to demand her release. 

Campaigners from the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (Bird), Reporters Without Borders, Human Rights Watch, Transparency International, PEN International and 10 others published an open letter to the FIA president Jean Todt, highlighting the country’s abysmal human rights and press freedom violations, including against people protesting the Bahrain Grand Prix.

“The Bahraini government attaches great importance to the Bahrain Grand Prix as a glamour status symbol of progress and international prestige,” the letter states.