Bahrainis hold nationwide rallies in support of top Shia cleric
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Bahrainis hold a demonstration in solidarity with Sheikh Isa Qassem in his native village of Diraz near the capital Manama, January 6, 2017
Thousands of Bahrainis have marched throughout the kingdom for a second straight day in protest at a push by the ruling Ale Khalifa regime to put prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Issa Qassim on trial.
Late on Thursday, the demonstrators amassed on al-Fada’ Square in the northwestern village of Diraz, where the cleric’s home is located, the London-based Bahraini opposition television network Lualua reported.
The protest rally came hours after the Bahraini judiciary once again postponed the trial of the top cleric until the end of this month.
In western Bahrain, the villages of Sanabis, Bouri, Abou-Sabih and Aali also witnessed similar protests.
The protesters were, however, pelted with tear gas canisters and pushed back by regime forces at a housing estate in western Manama.
Bahraini people had also come out in their thousands countrywide in the early hours of Thursday, unified by the same cause to condemn the ruling Ale Khalifah regime’s crackdown on opposition
Sheikh Qassim is the spiritual leader of Bahrain’s dissolved opposition bloc, the al-Wefaq National Islamic Society.
On June 20, 2016, Bahraini authorities stripped Qassem of his citizenship over accusations that he used his position to serve foreign interests and promote “sectarianism” and “violence.” He has denied the allegations.
The religious leader has been incarcerated ever since. The judicial authorities summon him to periodical trials, which they keep postponing on the grounds that they have not arrived at a definitive verdict concerning his charges.
Sheikh Qassim’s native village has also been under siege by regime forces for some six months.
ME
