Sheikh Qassim Not to Appear in Any Court: Bahraini Cleric
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A member of presiding board of Bahrain’s Ulema (scholars) Council made it clear that Sheikh Isa Qassim, the spiritual leader of Bahrain’s Shiite majority whose nationality has been revoked by the Al Khalifa regime, has no intention of appearing in any court session.
In an interview with the Tasnim News Agency, Sheikh Mohammad Hassan Khojasteh underscored that the popular Bahraini cleric will not appear in court in the upcoming trial sessions just like how he shunned appearance in the three previous sessions.
Sheikh Qassim is in very good conditions with high morale and does not care about the threats issues by the Manama regime, Khojasteh added.
The Al Khalifa regime announced on June 20 that the citizenship of Sheikh Qassim has been revoked, accusing him of sowing sectarian divisions.
The regime later said it would put the senior cleric on trial on charges of “illegal fund collections, money laundering and helping terrorism.”
But Sheikh Qassim has not appeared in any of the court sessions in the past weeks.
Bahrain, a close ally of the US in the Persian Gulf region, has been witnessing almost daily protests against the ruling Al Khalifa dynasty since early 2011, with Manama using heavy-handed measures in an attempt to crush the demonstrations.
Scores of Bahrainis have been killed and hundreds of others injured and arrested in the ongoing crackdown on the peaceful demonstrations.
Amnesty International and many other international rights organizations have frequently censured the Bahraini regime for the rampant human rights abuses against opposition groups and anti-regime protesters.
