kayhan.ir

News ID: 29320
Publish Date : 27 July 2016 - 21:08

Bahrain Postpones Trial of Shia Cleric; Activist Faces 12 Years in Prison

MANAMA (Dispatches) – A court in Bahrain adjourned the trial of top Shia cleric Sheikh Isa Qassim amid widespread protests against the move, but human rights campaigner Nabeel Rajab faces up to 12 years in prison in Bahrain.
The tribunal held a session which lasted only 10 minutes without the cleric’s presence on Wednesday, deciding to put off the trial until August 14.
The Bahraini regime has pressed charges of "illegal fund collections, money laundering and helping terrorism” against Sheikh Qassim. He has rejected the accusations.
Manama has also revoked the cleric’s citizenship.
Bahrain has already sentenced Sheikh Ali Salman, another revered opposition cleric, to nine years in prison on charges of seeking regime change and collaborating with foreign powers, which he has denied.
Sheikh Salman was the secretary general of the al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, which was Bahrain’s main opposition bloc before being dissolved by the regime earlier this month.
Both the trial of Sheikh Qassim and Sheikh Salman are viewed as part of Bahrain’s crackdown on political dissent.
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 cracking down on the protests.
On the eve of Sheikh Qassim’s trial, hundreds of people rallied in Bahrain to express solidarity with him. Shop owners also closed their stores on the streets and at various shopping malls.
Additionally, local residents switched off the lights of their houses in response to calls by opposition groups and chanted slogans on rooftops in condemnation of Sheikh Qassim’s trial.
Human Rights Watch says Bahraini human rights campaigner Nabeel Rajab faces up to 12 years in prison in Bahrain over tweets critical of the Saudi war on Yemen.
The U.S.-based international non-governmental organization said on Wednesday that the charges leveled against the 52-year-old president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights constitute a serious violation of his right to freedom of expression.
It added that Rajab’s prison condition amounts to arbitrary punishment, as he was kept in solitary confinement for more than two weeks after his arrest in mid-June and denied compassionate leave to take part in a relative’s funeral.
Saudi Arabia has been waging a non-UN-sanctioned war on Yemen since March 2015.
"Unlawful Saudi-led airstrikes bombed markets and hospitals, killing hundreds of civilians, but the person facing prison time is the one who criticized them,” said Joe Stork, the deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.