‘You are our champ’: Prisoner in Bahrain jail sends letter to Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton has proved to be an inspiration for prisoners in Bahrain after demanding last year that Formula One takes responsibility for human rights issues in the countries it visits, with his car number, 44, being adopted by some inmates.

F1 begins its new season this weekend in Bahrain, a country strongly criticised for abuse by human rights organisations. On Monday, Ali Alhajee a prisoner in Bahrain, wrote to Hamilton explaining how the seven-times champion had made a difference. Alhajee explained that the political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Bahrain’s Jau prison had previously boycotted watching F1 because of its role in sportswashing the regime. Hamilton’s outspoken stance on human rights and his support last year for some political prisoners who wrote to him from Bahrain has changed their attitude.

Related: Lewis Hamilton to change name to include mother Carmen’s surname

“Your genuine concern about these cases has changed the way prisoners think of this sport,” he wrote in a letter shared with the Guardian by the Bahrain Institute for Human Rights (Bird). “To us, you are our champ, not only the best in driving but also a human being who cares about the suffering of others. To reflect our support to you, a new phenomenon spread in the prison. Inmates began to write or draw ‘Sir 44’ or ‘Lewis 44’ on their clothes, which we would wear in support while watching the race.”

Alhajee claims he has been subjected to torture during his interrogation and that he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for organising peaceful protests in Manama, the capital of Bahrain. “I am a free man despite my handcuffs and the prison walls. The cement walls in this prison did not stop me from exposing the human rights