AhlulBayt News Agency - Bahrain today jailed five Shiites on alleged charges linked to "terrorism" and revoked their citizenships, the prosecution said, as authorities in the Saudi-backed Gulf kingdom crack down on the opposition.
Three defendants were found guilty of joining the clandestine "Al-Mukhtar Brigades" Shiite group, a prosecution statement said.
The criminal court sentenced each to 15 years in jail andstripped all three of their Bahraini citizenships, the statement said, adding that one of them is a fugitive on the run in Iraq.
The same court also jailed two alleged members of the outlawed Wafa Islamic Movement to 10 years and three years respectively after convicting them of taking part in an alleged "terrorist" bombing carried out by the group, the prosecution said, adding that their nationalities were also revoked.
The verdicts were the latest in a series of rulings mete dout against members of Bahrain's Shiite majority by the authorities, who are also pushing court proceedings to dissolve the main opposition Al-Wefaq group.
Scores of Shiites have been jailed over accusations of involvement in violence since a protest against the regime of the ruling Al-Khalifa dynasty was crushed in March 2011, a month after it erupted.
Protesters still frequently clash with police in villages outside the capital, Manama. Authorities have stripped at least 261 Bahrainis of their citizenship since 2012, according to the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, including the Gulf state's Shiite spiritual leader Sheikh Isa Qassem.
Activists have said that those losing their nationalities are usually given a one-year passport and a travel ticket to get to their destination.
Since February 14, 2011, thousands of anti-regime protesters have held numerous demonstrations on an almost daily basis in Bahrain, calling for the Al Khalifah family to relinquish power. The Al Khalifah regime is engaged in a harsh crackdown on dissent and widespread discrimination against the country's Shia majority.
In March 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were deployed to assist the Bahraini regime in its crackdown on peaceful protests.
Scores of people have been killed and hundreds of others injured or arrested in the harsh crackdown.
Amnesty International and several other international rights organizations have frequently censured the Bahraini regime for rampant human rights abuses against opposition activists and anti-regime protesters.
Last week, Manama revoked the citizenship of the country’s prominent Shia cleric, Shiekh Isa Qassim, which prompted huge criticism at domestic and international levels.
The Al Khalifah regime’s June 20 move against Sheikh Qassim came less than a week after Bahrain’s Justice Ministry suspended al-Wefaq and dissolved the opposition Islamic Enlightenment Institution and al-Risala Islamic Association.
Al-Wefaq’s Secretary General Sheikh Ali Salman has been in prison since December 2014 on charges of attempting to overthrow the regime and collaborating with foreign powers, which he has denied.
/129