Activists:

Bahraini Regime Still Laying Siege to Sheikh Qassim’s House

TEHRAN (defapress) – Bahraini activists said the house of Sheikh Isa Qassim, the spiritual leader the Shiite majority in the kingdom, in Diraz, west of Manama, is still under siege by the regime’s security forces.

News ID: 65114

Date: 29 May 2017 - 11:32

The supporters of Sheikh Qassim could not get close to his house because of the siege, the activists said, according to the Arabic-language Al Mayadeen TV.

In the meantime, the Bahraini citizens staged nationwide demonstrations in various cities across the Persian Gulf country on Sunday night to condemn the Al Khalifa regime for attacking the house of the prominent cleric and intensifying its crackdown on dissidents.

During the rallies, the protesters called on the regime to hand over the bodies of the martyrs recently killed in Diraz to their families.

In an attack on the supporters of Sheikh Qassim in Diraz on Monday, regime forces shot dead at least six demonstrators, wounded dozens and arrested over 280 people.

The raid followed a Bahraini court ruling on May 21 that sentenced Sheikh Qassim to one year in prison. Based on the verdict, the cleric’s properties worth three million Bahraini dinars (near $8 million) have been also confiscated. Moreover, Sheikh Qassim has been sentenced to pay a fine of 1,000 Bahraini dinars (about $2,650).

Bahrain, a close ally of the US in the Persian Gulf, has been witnessing almost daily protests against the Al Khalifa dynasty since early 2011, with security forces resorting to harsh measures against demonstrators.

Scores of Bahrainis have been killed and hundreds of others injured and arrested in the ongoing crackdown on the peaceful protests.