Bahrainis Stage Rallies in Support of Sheikh Qassim (+Photos)
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Bahraini people took to the streets in various cities of the Persian Gulf country to condemn the Al Khalifa regime for sentencing Sheikh Isa Qassim, the spiritual leader of the country’s Shiite majority, to one year in prison.
The Bahraini people staged the demonstrations on Sunday night in various cities and villages, including Diraz, the hometown of Sheikh Qassim located west of Manama.
The demonstrators staged the rallies in support of the country’s clerics, who had called on the people to stage more anti-regime protests until it makes a change in its “lunatic” policies.
During the rallies, the Bahraini citizens once again underlined that they would defend the prominent cleric to death.
A Bahraini court, in a politically motivated move on Sunday, announced the verdict against Sheikh Qassim, sentencing him to one year in prison.
According to the Verdict, Sheikh Qassim’s properties worth three million Bahraini dinars (near $8 million) have been confiscated. The cleric was also sentenced to pay a fine of 1,000 Bahraini dinars (about $2,650).
According to local reports, Sheikh Qassim’s prison sentence has been suspended for three years. 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.
