Bahrain summons six Shia clerics for questioning

Bahraini officials have summoned six Shia opposition clerics for interrogation amid simmering anger at the Manama regime for stepping up its crackdown on political dissent.

Activists said Thursday that Sheikh Fadel al-Zaki, head of the Bahraini Council of Shia Scholars, along with five other senior Shia figures, was called to the Budaya police station west of the capital, Manama.

It is not clear why Zaki has been summoned, but reports say it could be related to the speeches he recently delivered at the home of prominent Shia scholar Ayatollah Issa Qassim, whose nationality was revoked by the regime on Friday.

The summons came after a Bahraini court began hearing a Justice Ministry petition to suspend the activities of the kingdom’s main Shia opposition bloc the al-Wefaq National Society following a court order last week.

The kingdom also dissolved two other opposition groups, namely al-Tawiya and al-Risala Islamic associations.

The administrative court was reportedly due to meet on Manama’s request to dissolve al-Wefaq on October 6, but it brought the session forward at the request of the Justice Ministry. The proceedings began in defiance of UN and US appeals for them to be dropped.

The Thursday hearing was adjourned to September 4.

In another development on Thursday, another Bahraini court handed down jail terms ranging from five years to life in prison to 24 people for allegedly setting up a terror network in the country.

The tribunal also ruled that 13 of them must be stripped of their citizenship. According to a local news paper, the citizenship of the other 11 had already been revoked.

The fresh wave of Manama’s clampdown opposition activists has sparked anger in the Shia-majority kingdom, which has already been the scene of anti-regime protest rallies since 2011.

In recent days, Bahraini people have been staging anti-regime demonstrations in several areas to in protest at the regime’s repressive measures against Shia scholars and activists.

More protest rallies are expected to be held across the kingdom later this week, particularly after Friday Prayers tomorrow.

The suspension of al-Wefaq and the move against Sheikh Qassim have also drawn an angry reaction from the United Nations and prominent human rights groups.

On Wednesday, Human Rights Watch called on Manama to reverse its “arbitrary decision” to revoke the citizenship of Sheikh Qassim, stressing that “Bahrain’s government and ruling family are slamming shut the door on political reform, while simultaneously stoking dissent.”

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) also slammed the move as unreasonable under the international law.

Bahrain’s Interior Ministry has accused Sheikh Qassim of seeking the “creation of a sectarian environment” through his connections with foreign powers.

Al-Wefaq’s Secretary General Sheikh Ali Salman has also been in prison since December 2014 on charges of attempting to overthrow the regime and collaborating with foreign powers, which he has strongly denied.

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