Bahrain court gives life sentences to four activists
Iran Press TV
Thu Oct 3, 2013 3:39PM GMT
A court in Bahrain has sentenced four anti-regime activists to life in prison on charges of blowing a bomb near the capital, Manama.
The men were convicted on Thursday of detonating a bomb in Dair village on March 17.
The verdict is the fourth tough sentence to be given to anti-regime demonstrators in less than a week.
It also brings to 95 the number of pro-democracy protesters sentenced to lengthy jail terms. They were arrested for being involved in protests and seeking to overthrow the Manama regime.
On Wednesday, four anti-regime demonstrators were sentenced to 15 years in jail each on charges of detonating a bomb in Manama.
On Monday, a court jailed 37 protesters for up to fifteen years each after being convicted of “terrorist crimes.”
Some 50 other protesters were also handed jail terms of up to 15 years for forming an opposition group.
Amnesty International slammed the verdicts and demanded a probe into reports that some of the activists had been tortured.
“The authorities simply slap the label 'terrorist' on defendants and then subject them to all manner of violations to end up with a 'confession'.” Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s director for the Middle East and North Africa, said on Monday.
The uprising in Bahrain began in early 2011. Protesters initially called for political reform and a constitutional monarchy, a demand that later changed to an outright call for the ouster of the ruling Al Khalifa family following its brutal crackdown on popular protests.
On March 14, 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and certain other Arab countries stepped in to assist the Bahraini regime forces in the crackdown on the peaceful protests.
According to local sources, scores of people have been killed and hundreds arrested since March 2011.
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