Bahraini court gives jail term to activist's family

A Bahrain court has sentenced three family members of a prominent activist living abroad to jail terms as the ruling Aal-e Khalifah minority regime presses ahead with its heavy-handed crackdown against opposition figures and pro-democracy activists in the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom.

Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, who is a member of the rights group, the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD), said his relatives were sentenced on Monday on the charge of planting a "fake bomb" in January 2017.

The Britain-based activist further noted that his family members were convicted based on confessions gained through torture, and Bahraini officials are targeting his relatives because of his work in exposing the Manama regime’s “horrific rights abuses.”

“The lowest the Bahrain monarch can go is to come after my family, because I protested his presence in the United Kingdom, and dedicated my work to exposing his government’s horrific rights abuses,” Alwadaei said in a statement.

“I was distraught to see my family suffer torture, persecutions and interrogations about my activities,” he added, noting, “I will do whatever I can to hold the perpetrators to account.”

Alwadaei's 49-year-old mother-in-law, Hajer Mansoor, and 18-year-old brother-in-law, Sayed Nizar Alwadaei, were each sentenced to three years in jail.

His 30-year-old cousin Mahmood Marzooq was also sentenced to one month and a half for carrying a knife.

Alwadaei's statement further noted that the three had been detained since March and denied access to lawyers during their interrogations.