4 Bahraini activists sentenced to life and six others to 15-year jail

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - A court in Bahrain has sentenced four anti-regime activists to life in prison and six others to 15-year jail terms, as the country’s prosecutors begin interrogation of opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman.Bahraini opposition sources said on Sunday that the activists were handed prison sentences for taking part in anti-regime protests.Earlier this week, ten protesters were also imprisoned over similar charges.The court rulings are issued at a time when Bahraini regime forces have intensified crackdown on opposition leaders.Reports say the Manama regime has begun the interrogation of Sheikh Ali Salman, the secretary-general of the main opposition group, al-Wefaq.The Saturday summoning of Sheikh Salman sparked protests across Bahrain.The demonstrators expressed solidarity with the al-Wefaq leader.The Bahraini opposition group believes the summoning of Salman “to be part of the political blackmail and revenge against the peaceful opposition that is asking for democracy.”The Manama regime is under fire for its heavy-handed crackdown on protests.On October 30, Bahraini regime forces stormed and shut down an exhibition, dubbed the revolution museum, which was opened by al-Wefaq.The party says it will lodge a complaint with the United Nations over the raid on the exhibition, which had been organized in an effort to portray the brutal regime clampdown on peaceful protests.In September, Wefaq’s deputy leader, Khalil al-Marzouq, was arrested on charges of “inciting protests” against the ruling Al Khalifa family. The opposition party said the detention was “a clear attack on political activism in Bahrain.”Scores have been killed, many of them under torture while in custody, and thousands more detained since the popular uprising began in Bahrain in early 2011. /129