Bahrain court upholds jail sentence for 3 dissidents

A Bahraini court has rejected the appeal of three dissidents sentenced to 10 years in prison. 

A Bahraini court has rejected the appeal of three dissidents sentenced to 10 years in prison. 

The court on Wednesday found the defendants guilty of “deliberately setting ablaze a car belonging to the Bahraini Interior Ministry, and that would have endangered the life and property of people,” taking part in a gathering of more than five people aimed at disturbing public order and possessing flammable canisters.

Anti-regime protesters have held demonstrations in Bahrain since February 2011. They demand that the Al Khalifah dynasty relinquish power and allow a just system representing all the Bahrainis to be established.

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 crackdown.