Bahrain convicts 51 people, mostly Shias, in mass trial

Bahrain convicted 51 people, including Shia activists, on Tuesday, on charges of belonging to an extremist group, which is the most recent mass trial conducted in the Kingdom amid a years-long campaign against all the opposition.
In its condemnation of the people it arrested last year, Bahrain claimed that they belong to extremist groups and tried to target security services in the Kingdom, and it sentenced them to prison terms ranging from five years to life imprisonment.
According to a report by The Middle Town Press, “Bahrain did not announce the names of the convicted, and the lawyers who defended them in court have not been identified,” noting that “Bahrain has condemned a number of journalists, activists and Shia religious leaders as part of their campaign against the opposition.”
In the same context, the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy said that it “spoke to a family member of one of the defendants who confirmed that the trial was marred by violations of due process and the use of torture.”
The Director of Advocacy at the International Court of Justice, Mr. Ahmed al-Wadaei, affirmed that “this mass trial demonstrates the systematic corruption in the Bahraini judiciary, which routinely violates the most basic rights of the citizen to a fair trial.”