Bahraini court gives prison sentences to five anti-regime activists
A court in Bahrain has handed down prison sentences to five anti-regime protesters as the ruling Al Khalifah regime presses ahead with its heavy clampdown on political dissidents and pro-democracy activists in the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom.
On Thursday, Bahrain's Fourth High Criminal Court sentenced three defendants to life imprisonment and 15 years in jail. They were also ordered to pay a fine of 100,000 dinars ($265,220) and were stripped of their citizenship on charges of membership in the February 14 Youth Coalition — an opposition protest movement named after the date of the beginning of a popular uprising against the Manama regime, Arabic-language Lualua television network reported.
The same court also slapped jail terms of 10 and 15 years against two dissidents on charges of joining the opposition al-Wafa Islamic Movement.
Thousands of anti-regime protesters have held demonstrations in Bahrain on an almost daily basis ever since a popular uprising began in the country in mid-February 2011.
They are demanding that the Al Khalifah regime relinquish power and allow a just system representing all 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 Al Khalifah regime’s crackdown.
On March 5, 2017, Bahrain’s parliament approved the trial of civilians at military tribunals in a measure blasted by human rights campaigners as being tantamount to imposition of an undeclared martial law countrywide.
Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifah ratified the constitutional amendment on April 3 last year.
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