Bahrain rights activists jailed for life

Military court finds eight campaigners guilty of plotting coup during protests in Sunni-ruled kingdom Eight Bahraini rights activists have been given life sentences by a military court, which found them guilty of plotting a coup against the government during two months of unrest that rattled the country earlier this year. Another 13 demonstrators were given sentences of between two to 15 years, as the government attempts to crush dissent that has erupted in the tiny kingdom in February following popular uprisings elsewhere in the Arab world. The verdicts were immediately condemned by rights groups who said all those found guilty had been campaigning to end discrimination at the hands of the Sunni dynasty. Almost all activists who took to the streets of Manama in February and March were Shia Muslims, who make up 70% of Bahrain’s population, but feel largely disenfranchised. Bahrain’s ruling dynasty had instead claimed that the men were part of a “sedition ring”, backed by Iran and Hezbollah, who were trying to topple the regime. Among those given life sentences were leading members of opposition political groups. Leading rights activist Adbul Hadi al-Khawaja, whose daughters Zainab and Maryam are prominent members of the Bahrain human rights movement, was one of those condemned to life in prison. Zainab was reportedly removed from the courtroom after protesting against the sentence Among those who received lesser sentences was Ibrahim Sharif, a secular leftist Sunni, who was accused by a state-run newspaper of having links to “a foreign country” – a veiled reference to Iran. The Guardian spoke to Sharif at the former focal point of the rights demonstrations in Manama in February where he said he was the only prominent member of the Sunni community to be campaigning more openly for equal rights for the kingdom’s majority Shia base. “Things have to change here, or else the country will suffer and the kingdom could be imperilled,” he said at the time, standing in Pearl roundabout, a landmark in the central city that was later demolished under government orders . As verdicts were read in a military court this morning, members of the public gallery chanted “solidarity, solidarity, we shall overthrow the regime”. Bahraini security officers were congratulating each other inside the courthouse, according to bystanders present. The trials were held despite the government pronouncing the end of three months of martial law earlier this month, which had given the exclusively Sunni security forces extra powers of detention and arrest. Activists called for protesters to again take to the streets in Manama on Wednesday in defiance of the verdicts and the government, which has vowed to continue a crackdown on dissent. Up to 30 doctors and nurses from key city hospitals were last week also put on trial accused of subversion and if using government facilities for political purposes. Bahrain Middle East Arab and Middle East unrest Human rights Martin Chulov guardian.co.uk

Posted by on June 22, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.