Top Bahraini court confirms ruling to deport 14 dissidents

Rasa - The top court in Bahrain has confirmed a ruling to deport 14 activists, including a woman, who had been stripped of their nationalities in 2012 for political reasons.

News ID: 436010

Date: 25 January 2018 - 15:22

RNA - Bahrain’s Supreme Court also sentenced the individuals to pay a fine of 100 Bahraini dinars, equivalent to $265, Bahrain’s Lulu TV reported on Thursday.

According to the report, Bahrain’s criminal court had issued the order to expel the group in 2014.

The deportation order comes as the ruling Al Khalifah regime presses ahead with its heavy-handed clampdown on pro-democracy campaigners in the Persian Gulf kingdom.

In November 2012, Bahrain’s Interior Ministry issued a statement revoking the citizenship of the 31 people, including two former members of the parliament as well as several clerics, for allegedly “damaging the security of the state.”

Human Rights Watch said at the time that revoking citizenship without due process violates the rights of Bahraini nationals under international law.

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.

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