No Script

Please Wait...

Ramadan Kareem...

From behind Bars, Sheikh Salman: Ayatollah Qassim’s Trial Persecution of Bahraini Shias

From behind Bars, Sheikh Salman: Ayatollah Qassim’s Trial Persecution of Bahraini Shias
folder_openBahrain access_time6 years ago
starAdd to favorites

Local Editor

Bahrain's senior opposition cleric Sheikh Ali Salman confirmed that the prosecution of top cleric Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim amounts to persecution and targeting of the entire Shia community in the country.

From behind Bars, Sheikh Salman: Ayatollah Qassim’s Trial Persecution of Bahraini Shias

Salman, the secretary general of the country's now-dissolved al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, made the remarks during a telephone call from prison as he himself has been in jail since 2014, Bahrain's LuaLua TV reported on Friday.

On May 3, senior clerics in Bahrain reiterated their support for Sheikh Qassim, and called on all members of the public to reject any court ruling against the distinguished cleric.

On June 20, 2016, Bahraini authorities stripped Sheikh Qassim of his nationality. They later dissolved the Islamic Enlightenment Institution, founded by the clergyman, in addition to the opposition al-Risala Islamic Association.

The Manama regime has pressed charges of "illegal fund collections, money laundering and helping terrorism" against Sheikh Qassim, who has strongly denied them. International rights groups have slammed the charges as baseless and politically motivated.

A trial session had been scheduled for the senior cleric on March 14 but was postponed to May 7 amid fears of a surge in popular outrage.

Two days before the court pronounces its ruling against Sheikh Qassim, Saudi Arabia has deployed military reinforcements to Bahrain apparently to help the Bahraini regime repress potential anti-regime protests.

Bahraini sources said on Friday that the reinforcements entered Bahrain via King Fahd Causeway, which connects the two kingdoms.

Thousands of anti-regime protesters have held numerous demonstrations in Bahrain on an almost daily basis ever since a popular uprising began in the kingdom on February 14, 2011.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

Comments