Bahrain rights activists jailed for life

Bahrain rights activists jailed for life
Military court finds eight campaigners guilty of plotting coup during protests in Sunni-ruled kingdom

Bahraini Shia Muslims chant slogans to free prisoners during a sermon. Photograph: Hasan Jamali/AP

Eight Bahraini rights activists have been given life sentences by a military court, which found them guilty of plotting a coup against the government during two months of unrest that rattled the country earlier this year.

Another 13 demonstrators were given sentences of between two to 15 years, as the government attempts to crush dissent that has erupted in the tiny kingdom since February following popular uprisings elsewhere in the Arab world.

The verdicts were immediately condemned by rights groups who said all those found guilty had been campaigning to end discrimination at the hands of the Sunni dynasty. Almost all activists who took to the streets of Manama in February and March were Shia Muslims, who make up 70% of Bahrain’s population, but feel largely disenfranchised.

Bahrain’s ruling dynasty claimed that the men were part of a “sedition ring”, backed by Iran and Hezbollah, trying to topple the regime.

Among those given life sentences were leading members of opposition political groups. Leading rights activist Adbul Hadi al-Khawaja, whose daughters Zainab and Maryam are prominent members of the Bahrain human rights movement, was one of those condemned to life in prison. Zainab was reportedly removed from the courtroom after protesting against the sentence. …more