Activists on social media outlets expressed their concerns over health of spiritual leader of Shiite majority in Bahrain Sheikh Isa Qassim, who is still being under house arrest since May 23, 2017.
Bahrain Forum for Human Rights issued a statement last week in which it warned about health deterioration of Sheikh Isa Qassim after preventing doctors from following up his case, due to being held under house arrest by the security authorities that prevent people from visiting him.
Activists published photos for armored vehicle surrounding Sheikh Isa Qassim's house in Diraz that has been under siege since over a year.
In May a Bahraini court sentenced Sheik Qassim to one year in jail suspended for three years for allegedly collecting funds illegally and money laundering. The regime’s court also ordered the cleric to pay 100,000 Bahraini dinar ($265,266) in fines. The charges emanate from the collection of an Islamic tax called Khums, which in Shiite Islam is collected and spent by a senior cleric in the interests of the needy.
Ayatollah Isa Qassim was stripped of his nationality last June 2016 where Bahrainis have been protesting outside his house since then protesting the illegal move by the Al Khalifa regime.
Anti-regime protests have been held in Bahrain on an almost daily basis ever since a popular Islamic Awakening uprising began in the country in 2011. The Al Khalifa regime has used an iron fist to silence dissent.
In March 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — themselves repressive Arab regimes — were deployed to aid Bahrain in its brutal crackdown. Many people have lost their lives and hundreds of others sustained injuries or been arrested and illegally detained while many have seen their citizenship revoked.
The tiny Persian Gulf kingdom is an ally of the US and Britain with the two Western powers having military bases in the country.
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