Bahraini protesters slam death penalties given to three activits
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Bahrainis protest death sentences issued against three of their compatriots in the northwestern village of Diraz, January 15, 2014.
Anger is boiling in Bahrain over the death sentences handed down to three anti-regime activists, with large groups of protesters filling the streets across the kingdom on the eve of the scheduled executions.
The rallies began on Saturday and lasted into Sunday, when the outraged public marched across the capital Manama and the northeastern villages of Nuwaidrat and al-Dair after performing the morning prayers, the London-based Bahraini opposition television network Lualua reported.
On January 9, Bahrain’s Court of Cassation found Sami Mushaima, Abbas Jamil Tahir al-Sami’ and Ali Abdulshahid al-Singace guilty of killing a member of Emirati forces assisting Manama in its suppression of Bahraini protesters in the northern village of al-Daih back in March 2014. Seven other convicts have also been sentenced to life in prison in the case.
The defendants have denied the charges.
The death sentences are reportedly planned to be carried out later on Sunday.
The latest wave of anti-regime protests came after Bahraini religious scholars called on the nation to take to the streets “in a bid to save the lives of the three innocent activists.”
“Your rage is the hope which will change all the equations, as well as the way that will save our youths,” the statement said in an address to Bahraini people.
Manama has been heavy-handedly confronting popular peaceful protests, which first began in early 2011. The clampdown has cost scores of lives. Later during the popular uprising, the regime called in Saudi and Emirati reinforcements to help Manama muffle dissent.
ME
