MANAMA (Dispatches) -- Bahraini courts on Monday pressed ahead with the mass trial of 62 detained Shia clerics, as lawyers and human rights groups said the proceedings are marred by torture, coerced confessions, and flagrant violations of fair trial standards.
The detained scholars, including prominent figures Sheikh Muhammad Sanqour, Sheikh Mahmoud al-Aali, Sheikh Ali al-Sadadi, and Sheikh Hani al-Banna, appeared via video conference before Judge Jassim al-Ajlan on Sunday. Lawyers described the session as a secret hearing conducted without proper legal safeguards.
Sheikh Sanqour told the court he had been forced to stand blindfolded for an entire week during interrogation, and that his health deteriorated as a result. 
He said he was asked only three questions at the prosecutor’s office before being confronted with a case file of dozens of pages containing numerous questions — a document he called fabricated. 
“What is happening is a trial of the Shia,” he said.
The Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society released a report titled “Beyond Restrictions” on Oct. 10, documenting the detention of 62 religious scholars — 60 inside Bahrain and two in the United Arab Emirates — along with over 820 arrests from March 2026 to mid-September 2026.
The report details coerced confessions, documents signed without knowledge of their content, restrictions on legal representation, and mistreatment during detention. It also highlights the use of sermons, lectures, and religious practices as evidence in criminal charges.
According to a United Nations Human Rights Committee submission, between March 1 and April 21, 2026 alone, 309 people were detained, including four women and eight non-Bahrainis, with 24 minors under age 18. 
Human Rights Watch and other groups have documented that detainees are held in secret locations, isolated from the outside world, and denied contact with families or lawyers.
The crackdown has also produced fatalities. Sayed Mohamed Abdulmohsen al-Mosawi, 32, was detained on March 19, 2026, and died nine days later. His father identified his body at the Bahrain Defense Force Hospital and observed extensive bruising and injuries consistent with repeated blunt force trauma, according to Human Rights First. The Special Investigation Unit later acknowledged he died as a result of a beating in custody.
Al-Wefaq called for the immediate release of the detained scholars, the annulment of confessions obtained through coercion and torture, and an independent international investigation.