Bahrain court sentences 4 dissidents to 15 years in prison

A court in Bahrain has upheld 15-year jail terms handed down to four citizens and revoked their citizenship as the authorities relentlessly continues with its crackdown on human rights activists and pro-democracy campaigners in the Gulf kingdom.

 

 

A court in Bahrain has upheld 15-year jail terms handed down to four citizens and revoked their citizenship as the authorities relentlessly continues with its crackdown on human rights activists and pro-democracy campaigners in the Gulf kingdom.

On Tuesday, Bahrain’s Court of Appeal claimed that the defendants are guilty of collaborating with a foreign country, establishing and joining a terrorist group, training in the use of weapons and explosives, and importing munitions and explosives, Arabic-language Bahrain Mirror news website reported.

The same court upheld 15-year jail terms against seven activists on September 28, after claiming that they are guilty of killing a member of security forces and setting his patrol car ablaze with a Molotov cocktail during clashes in the village of Karzakan, located 20 kilometers southwest of the capital Manama, on December 17, 2015.

Manama has gone to great lengths to clamp down on any sign of dissent. On March 14, 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were deployed to assist Bahrain in its crackdown.

Scores of people have lost their lives and hundreds of others sustained injuries or got arrested as a result of the authorities’ crackdown.