Bahrain hands 37 Shias jail terms up to 15 years
Iran Press TV
Mon Sep 30, 2013 3:7PM GMT
A Bahraini court has handed 37 Shias prison terms of up to 15 years for allegedly carrying out "terrorist crimes" in the Persian Gulf kingdom.
The court in Manama sentenced four of the defendants to 15 years in prison. It jailed six for 10 years and handed five-year jail terms to 27 others, a judicial source said.
They were convicted of "carrying out terrorist crimes on April 24 as part of a group attempt to undermine public security and endanger lives of people and public property as well as attempting to kill policemen."
The court also accused the group of being responsible for two roadside bomb explosions in the village of Diraz, which wounded four policemen. They were also accused of "ownership of petrol bombs ... and of rioting.”
The ruling comes one day after a Bahraini court handed jail terms of up to 15 years to 50 Shia Muslims, including a prominent Iraqi cleric for forming an opposition group.
Hadi al-Mudaressi, sentenced in absentia, was accused of forming the ‘February 14 Revolution Youth Coalition.’
Since mid-February 2011, thousands of pro-democracy protesters have staged numerous demonstrations in the streets of Bahrain, calling for the Al Khalifa regime to relinquish power.
Bahraini authorities accuse the anti-regime group of involvement in ‘terrorism.’
Manama’s human rights record has come under scrutiny over its handling of anti-regime protests that erupted across the Arab country in early 2011.
PG/SS
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
