Bahrain Crackdown: Authorities Arrest Sheikh Isa Al-Moamen over Friday Sermon
Local Editor
Continuing its crackdown against dissidents, Bahraini authorities arrested on Wednesday the Imam of al-Kheif mosque Sheikh Isa al-Moamen in the town of al-Dair. This comes after he was summoned for the implementation of a 3-month prison verdict issued against him over a Friday sermon.
The court of appeals had upheld earlier on March 12 a 3-month verdict against Sheikh al-Moamen for alleged accusations of "inciting hatred" against the regime, over a Friday Sermon he delivered in al-Kheif Mosque on August 2, 2016.
Sheikh al-Moamen has another 3-month prison verdict over another Friday Sermon, yet the appeals court has not yet issued its decision in this regard.
The Bahraini authorities arrested Sheikh al-Moemen back on August 6, 2016 and referred him to trial while in custody. The court; however, decided on September 28, 2016 that he can be released on 500 BD bail, pending trial.
The Bahraini authorities have been launching a vast campaign against Shiite clerics, summoned and arrested dozens of them, since the citizenship revocation of the Shiite majority spiritual leader, Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim on June 20, 2016.
Thousands of anti-regime protesters have held demonstrations in Bahrain on an almost daily basis ever since a popular uprising began in the country in mid-February 2011. They are demanding that the Al Khalifah dynasty relinquish power and let a just system representing all Bahrainis be established.
Manama has gone to great lengths to clamp down on any sign of dissent. On March 14, 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were deployed to assist Bahrain in its brutal crackdown.
Scores of people have lost their lives and many others gotten arrested in the crackdown.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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