Bahraini Court Gives Jail Terms to 19 Protesters, Including 5 Life Sentences
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Bahraini regime, in another move to silence voices of dissent, sentenced 19 pro-democracy protesters to long jail terms, including five teenagers to life in prison.
According to a judicial source in Bahrain, the court on Thursday handed over jail sentences to the 19 Shiite protesters on the charge of violence against police officers.
The Al Khalifa regime has accused the five teenagers, who have been sentenced to life imprisonment, of involving in an attack on security forces in a village east of the capital, Manama, in August.
In another case, the court sentenced 14 other protesters to long jail terms, accusing them of being behind an attack with petrol bombs on a check point in Manama.
The Bahraini judiciary has come under fire by many human rights groups for handing down long jail terms to anti-regime protesters and activists in the country.
Amnesty International and other rights groups have repeatedly censured the Bahraini regime over the “rampant” human rights abuses against opposition activists and pro-democracy protesters.
Anti-regime protesters have been holding rallies across Bahrain since mid-February 2011, calling on the ruling family to relinquish power.
Scores of people have been killed and hundreds of others injured or arrested in the crackdown.