Lewis Hamilton has been sent an emotional plea from a prisoner, calling on the Englishman to not be 'muzzled' by the FIA. The call comes after the FIA banned Formula 1 drivers from making unapproved political protests on race weekends.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton has often used his platform on the grid to make important statements, often in regard to human rights abuses. Most notably the Englishman has displayed protests in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
These statements however may well be no more, with the FIA ruling that any protest must now be approved by the governing body prior to race weekend.
The move has resulted in a huge backlash, with the The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) amongst the bigger critics. In a letter seen by Mirror Sport, the human rights group hit out at FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
The letter from BIRD director Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei read: "The FIA's recent move is clearly targeted at drivers like Lewis Hamilton who has used his platform to express support for Black Lives Matter and human rights in countries with problematic human rights records, including Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
"Throughout his career, none of the statements Lewis Hamilton has made can be considered any more political than the decision by the FIA to withdraw from racing in Russia in the last season due to its invasion of Ukraine... F1 drivers must be allowed to enjoy the same rights as you [the FIA] are to freely express their moral stances."
In the wake of the controversy, Ali Al-Hajee - a prisoner in Bahrain - reached out to Hamilton, accusing the new ruling of 'muzzling drivers'. Al-Hajee said: "I would like to share with you the disappointment I felt after learning that political and religious statements were banned by the FIA; a decision that, in my opinion, perpetuates a policy which muzzles drivers and who makes you its primary target. I therefore ask you to fight this policy.
“What makes you stand [out] from other F1 drivers is that you go beyond the circuit track by acting upon your passion for protecting the rights of others. What I felt from your words and actions in previous F1 seasons gave me, and other prisoners of conscience in Bahrain, a glimmer of hope."
Hitting out at Ben Sulayem, he added: “I know that the president is an Emirati and one of his vice-presidents is a Bahraini, both of whom belong to regimes whose prisons are crowded with prisoners of conscience and human rights defenders."
