Regime court in Bahrain jails, revokes nationality of 15 dissidents
Aal-e Khalifa's court in Bahrain has imprisoned and revoked the citizenship of more than a dozen people after convicting them of terror charges as the ruling Al Khalifah regime continues with its heavy-handed crackdown on political dissidents in the tiny Persian Gulf island State.
According to the reports, on Thursday, the Fourth High Criminal Court convicted two defendants to 15 years in jail and three others to 10 years behind bars each on charges of “forming a terror cell, running it and recruiting new members.”
Seven other people were slapped with seven years in jail each. Three others, namely Sheikh Mohammad Ali al-Tal, Mohammad al-A'ali and Ismail Abdulaziz, were sentenced to life imprisonment.
The trio were also ordered to pay a cash fine of 200,000 Bahraini dinars (over $530,000).
The court later revoked the citizenship of all the 15 defendants.
Separately, Bahrain's Supreme Criminal Court sentenced two civilians to 5 years in prison on charge of holding an anti-regime protest in the small village of Jurdab earlier this year, and setting scrap tires ablaze.
Thousands of anti-regime protesters have held numerous peaceful demonstrations in Bahrain on an almost daily basis ever since a popular uprising began in the kingdom on February 14, 2011.
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