Hezbollah: Qassem's jail a 'state crime' by Bahraini regime

Lebanese anti-terrorist resistance movement Hezbollah has lambasted a suspended jail term given by a Aal-e Khalifa's regime court on Sunday to the Bahrain's prominent religious scholar, Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassem.

According to reports, the regime's court convicted the spiritual leader of illegal collection of funds and money laundering and sentenced him to one year in jail suspended for three years. It also ordered him to pay $265,266 in fines.

“This sentence is a new crime added to a series of crimes against humanity perpetrated by the regime,” a Hezbollah statement said.

The charges emanate from the collection of an Islamic donation called Khums, which in Islam is collected and spent by a senior religious authority in the interests of the needy.

Qassem also faces expulsion from the Persian Gulf island State after regime authorities revoked his citizenship last year.

Since 2011, the Bahrain has been the scene of peaceful anti-regime protests against the systematic abuse of the Shia-Muslim population and discrimination against them by the Aal-e Khalifa's minority ruling regime.

The regime has responded to the protests with excessive and lethal force, which has drawn international criticism.

SS