(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Bahrain has deported six US citizens for joining pro-democracy demonstrations, a statement said Wednesday, as the opposition reported dozens of arrests on the first anniversary of anti-discrimination revolution.
The deportations bring the number of Americans expelled from Bahrain to eight after two human rights activists were ordered out the country on February 11 after being accused of "illegal" activities.
The six "activists" who were deported had entered the country in the past week and were sent home after "participating in demonstrations," an Information Affairs Authority statement said.
They were harshly questioned at a local police station and "agreed to leave the country without further legal procedures," the statement added.
The expulsions came as Bahrain on Tuesday marked the first anniversary of anti-discrimination revolution against the regime, and the brutal crackdown that followed which left 68 people dead, according to an independent commission of inquiry into the violence.
The main Shia opposition Al-Wefaq said Bahraini police made dozens of arrests while dispersing protesters attempting to march on the capital's Shuhada Square (Pearl Roundabout), the focal point of the February 14th uprising that was crushed a month later.
Al-Wefaq said there were "large numbers of injuries to the demonstrators caused by birdshot pellets, poison tear gas, stun grenades,".
Wounded protesters in Bahrain often seek medical treatment in private homes for fear of arrest or intimidation by the authorities if they check in to a hospital.
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The deportations bring the number of Americans expelled from Bahrain to eight after two human rights activists were ordered out the country on February 11 after being accused of "illegal" activities.
The six "activists" who were deported had entered the country in the past week and were sent home after "participating in demonstrations," an Information Affairs Authority statement said.
They were harshly questioned at a local police station and "agreed to leave the country without further legal procedures," the statement added.
The expulsions came as Bahrain on Tuesday marked the first anniversary of anti-discrimination revolution against the regime, and the brutal crackdown that followed which left 68 people dead, according to an independent commission of inquiry into the violence.
The main Shia opposition Al-Wefaq said Bahraini police made dozens of arrests while dispersing protesters attempting to march on the capital's Shuhada Square (Pearl Roundabout), the focal point of the February 14th uprising that was crushed a month later.
Al-Wefaq said there were "large numbers of injuries to the demonstrators caused by birdshot pellets, poison tear gas, stun grenades,".
Wounded protesters in Bahrain often seek medical treatment in private homes for fear of arrest or intimidation by the authorities if they check in to a hospital.
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