MANAMA (Dispatches) -- Bahraini 
authorities maintained a strict security siege on the predominantly Shia town of Diraz west of Manama, for the 106th consecutive week, preventing residents from holding Friday prayers, while protests erupted in multiple areas demanding the release of detained clerics and an end to sectarian repression. 
The crackdown is part of a broader escalation that human rights organizations have documented as a systematic campaign of arbitrary arrests, torture, and suppression of religious and political freedoms since the outbreak of the war on Iran in March 2026.
The security measures around Diraz focused on the Imam Sadiq Mosque, where Interior Ministry-affiliated forces and armed vehicles were deployed since Friday morning in anticipation of popular demonstrations. 
Authorities have banned centralized Friday prayers since October 4, 2024, following popular insistence on commemorating Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and protests against normalization with Israel. 
Despite the siege, demonstrations broke out in several Bahraini regions demanding prison clearing, the immediate release of all detainees—particularly senior clerics—and an end to the government’s ban on Shia Friday prayers. 
Protesters also called for ending the normalization agreement with Israel, expelling its ambassador, and terminating the American military presence in the country.
The crackdown extends far beyond Diraz. According to a report released by the Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, Bahraini authorities have detained 62 religious scholars—60 within Bahrain and two in the UAE—alongside more than 820 arrests since the war began until mid-September 2026. 
The report, titled “Beyond Restrictions,” documented forced confessions, signing of documents without full awareness of their content, restrictions on legal representation, and mistreatment during detention. 
It also highlighted the use of sermons, speeches, and religious rituals as evidence for charges, raising serious questions about fair trial guarantees and freedom of belief. 
Lawyers reported that the trial of detained Shia clerics, including prominent Friday prayer leader Sheikh Mohamed Sanqour, has been marred by torture, intimidation, and gross violations of fair trial standards, with proceedings conducted via video conference and the defense prevented from presenting its case.
The UK Parliament has condemned the escalating repression, citing the arbitrary arrest of more than 700 people including children, the revocation of citizenship of 69 individuals including 33 children—the youngest just 19 days old—and the death in custody of 32-year-old Sayed Mohamed Almosawi, whose body was returned to his family bearing visible signs of torture. 
The motion also condemned the mass prosecution of 56 defendants including 46 clerics, and called for an independent UN-led investigation. 
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights documented 669 arbitrary arrests including 36 children in the first half of 2026 alone, with one detainee dying under torture, alongside 260 peaceful protests suppressed through surveillance, intimidation, and judicial harassment.