News / Persian Gulf

Bahraini court upholds 15-year jail terms against 7 dissidents

Thursday, 28 September 2017 4:28 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 28 September 2017 6:15 PM ]

This file photo shows the entrance to the building of Bahrain’s Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs in the capital Manama.

A court in Bahrain has upheld 15-year jail terms handed down to seven citizens as the Manama regime presses ahead with its crackdown on human rights activists and pro-democracy campaigners in the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom.

On Thursday, Bahrain’s Court of Appeal found the defendants guilty of killing a member of security forces and setting his patrol car ablaze with a Molotov cocktail during clashes in the village of Karzakan, located 20 kilometers southwest of the capital Manama, on December 17, 2015, Arabic-language and independent Manama Post online newspaper reported.

The court also pressed charges of illegal gathering and rioting in addition to possession of flammable materials against the convicts, and ordered them to pay 10,200 dinars ($27,835) altogether over damage inflicted on regime forces during the protest.

Manama piles up pressure on Shias ahead of Ashura

Meanwhile, Bahrain’s ruling Al Khalifah regime has intensified its repressive measures ahead of Ashura, which marks the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein (PBUH) – the third Shia Imam.

Manama regime’s mercenaries, escorted by security forces, raided the northern village of al-Musalla on the western outskirts of Manama and took down Ashura banners and flags using crane baskets.

Thousands of anti-regime protesters have held demonstrations in Bahrain on an almost daily basis ever since a popular uprising began in the country in mid-February 2011.

They are demanding that the Al Khalifah dynasty relinquish power and allow a just system representing all Bahrainis to be established.

Manama has gone to great lengths to clamp down on any sign of dissent. On March 14, 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were deployed to assist Bahrain in its crackdown.

Scores of people have lost their lives and hundreds of others sustained injuries or got arrested as a result of the Al Khalifah regime’s crackdown.

On March 5, Bahrain’s parliament approved the trial of civilians at military tribunals in a measure blasted by human rights campaigners as being tantamount to imposition of an undeclared martial law countrywide.

The Bahraini monarch, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifah, ratified the constitutional amendment on April 3.

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