AhlulBayt News Agency

source : BBC
Thursday

19 May 2011

7:30:00 PM
242442

Bahrain Sentences Shia Cleric, Mohammed Habib al-Saffaf to 20 Years in Jail

A Bahrain court has sentenced nine people to 20 years in prison on charges of kidnapping a policeman, the state-run news agency reports.

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - A well-known opposition Shia cleric, Mohammed Habib al-Saffaf, was among those sentenced.

Bahraini authorities accuse him of instigating recent anti-government protests.

The special security court, presided over by civil and military judges, was set up in mid-March.

The court was created under emergency laws implemented during a crackdown on Shia-led protests against the Persian Gulf kingdom's Sunni rulers.

"The Lower National Safety Court sentenced nine defendants accused of kidnapping one policeman to 20 years in prison," the BNA news agency said, according to Agence France-Presse.

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