News / Persian Gulf

Bahraini regime forces detain 3 Shia clerics

Monday, 25 July 2016 9:33 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 25 July 2016 9:33 AM ]

Bahraini Shia Muslim cleric Sayed Yassin al-Mosawi

Bahraini regime forces have arrested at least three Shia Muslim clerics as the ruling Al Khalifah dynasty presses ahead with its heavy-handed crackdown and persecution of the members of the religious community in the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom.

Bahraini troopers arrested Sayed Yassin al-Mosawi and Sheikh Jassim al-Kayyat on Sunday over their participation in a sit-in outside the residence of distinguished religious figure Sheikh Issa Qassim in the northwestern village of Diraz, situated about 12 kilometers west of the capital Manama, to denounce the regime’s recent decision to revoke his citizenship, Arabic-language Lualua television network reported.

The pair was taken to a police station in the northwestern coastal town of Budaiya, located just 10 kilometers southwest of Manama, and security personnel prevented their lawyer Jassim Sarhan from reaching out to them.

On June 20, Bahraini authorities stripped Sheikh Issa Qassim of his citizenship less than a week after the Justice Ministry suspended al-Wefaq and dissolved opposition al-Risala Islamic Association and Islamic Enlightenment Institution, founded by Sheikh Qassim.

Bahrain’s so-called administrative court later ordered the dissolution of al-Wefaq and the seizure of its funds.

Separately, Bahraini regime forces have arrested Sheikh Aziz al-Khaddran on charges of incitement of hatred against the ruling Al Khalifah dynasty.

Since February 14, 2011, thousands of anti-regime protesters have held numerous demonstrations in Bahrain on an almost daily basis, calling on the Al Khalifah rulers to relinquish power.

In March that year, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were deployed to the country to assist the Bahraini regime in its crackdown on protests.

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