Bahraini Regime Sentences Three Shiite Clerics to Jail

Rasa - The Al Khalifa regime, in yet another attempt to silence voices of dissent, sentenced three Shiite clerics to prison on trumped-up charges after they participated in a rally in support of Sheikh Isa Qassim, the spiritual leader of Bahrain’s Shiite majority.

News ID: 426316

Date: 06 January 2017 - 18:47

RNA - A Bahraini court sentenced three Shiite clerics on Wednesday for attending a recent peaceful protest in Diraz, where the house of sheikh Qassim is located.

The Manama regime sentenced the three clerics to one year in prison, the local reports said.

The Bahraini people have staged numerous rallies in Diraz to break the regime’s blockade on the neighborhood around Sheikh Qassim’s house.

While the siege has been in place for more than 200 days, residents of the neighborhood are prepared to withstand even worse conditions.

The Manama regime forces have placed barricades at more than 20 entrances to Diraz, barring even the shipment of fresh water and foodstuff from entering the village.

Meanwhile, a sit-in that supporters of Sheikh Qassim have staged in front of his house to protect him against the regime forces has now entered its seventh month.

The Manama regime announced on June 20, 2016, that the citizenship of Sheikh Qassim has been revoked, accusing him of sowing sectarian divisions.

The regime later said it would put the senior cleric on trial on charges of “illegal fund collections, money laundering and helping terrorism.”

But Sheikh Qassim has not appeared in any of the court sessions in the past months.

Bahrain, a close ally of the US in the Persian Gulf, has been witnessing almost daily protests against the Al Khalifa dynasty since early 2011, with security forces resorting to harsh measures against demonstrators.

Scores of Bahrainis have been killed and hundreds of others injured and arrested in the ongoing crackdown on the peaceful protests.

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