Families of slain Bahrainis slam burial of loved ones without consent

The families of five Bahraini activists recently killed by the country’s security forces have slammed as a “crime” the burial of their loved ones without being allowed to bid farewell to them.

The families of five Bahraini activists recently killed by the country’s security forces have slammed as a “crime” the burial of their loved ones without being allowed to bid farewell to them.

The families on Saturday called on the Bahraini authorities to return the bodies of the activists killed during a security attack last week, but authorities buried them without any permission.

A Bahraini Interior Ministry official said the five were buried on Friday after having contacted the families to attend funeral services, only to change their minds later, the Arabic-language al-Wasat newspaper reported on Sunday.

On May 23, Bahraini forces raided the village of Diraz, which has been under a military siege for almost a year, and stormed the home of Sheikh Isa Qassim, the spiritual leader of Bahrain’s Shia majority.