News / Persian Gulf

Bahrain court upholds jail sentence for 3 dissidents

Wednesday, 11 July 2018 5:05 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 11 July 2018 5:08 PM ]

The photo, taken on December 26, 2014, shows a Bahraini man holding up an anti-regime placard during a protest in the village of Jannusan, west of the capital Manama. (Photo by AFP)

A Bahraini court has rejected the appeal of three dissidents sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The court on Wednesday found the defendants guilty of deliberately setting ablaze a car belonging to the Bahraini Interior Ministry “that would have endangered the life and property of people,” taking part in a gathering of more than five people aimed at disturbing public order and possessing flammable canisters.

Anti-regime protesters have held demonstrations in Bahrain since February 2011. They demand that the Al Khalifah dynasty relinquish power and allow a just system representing all the Bahrainis to be established.

Manama has gone to great lengths to clamp down on any sign of dissent. On March 14, 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were deployed to assist Bahrain in its crackdown. Scores of people have lost their lives and hundreds of others sustained injuries or got arrested as a result of the crackdown.

Earlier in July, a human rights monitoring group said Bahraini regime forces stormed more than 59 houses and arrested 42 activists across the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom last month. Rasad Bahrain group said the raids were carried out in a number of villages, including Samaheej, Diraz, Sanabis, Sitra Island and Malkiya.

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