Citizen Arrests and House Break-Ins: Bahrain

Local Editor

Popular uprisings sustained in Bahrain as protestors took to the streets in many
areas of the country, while regime forces escalated its violent campaigns against demonstrators.

In this context, al-Wefaq National Islamic Society stated that the Bahraini regime forces broke into citizens' houses in al-Aqer area on Tuesday early morning and harshly apprehended a number of citizens from their homes.
In response, an abrupt peaceful rally gathered in Manama, where participants called on the regime to release detainees and meet the people's demands.
On this note, the February 14 Youth Coalition declared in a statement, "the vast demonstration in Manama due this weekend under the slogan "Week of Dignity" is the important and necessary primer for the massive protest due February 14."
Moreover, Islamic al-Wafa Party stated that the upcoming weeks "are of great importance to our people, the regime, and observers," adding, "it will define how successful the people are in absorbing the security crackdown and recovering popular crowds on the revolution's anniversary."

On another note, Hussein al-Mahfouz, Secretary-General of the Islamic Action Society (Amal) and son of Sheikh Mohammad Ali Mahfouz, stated that the Jaw Central Prison of Bahrain prevented the latter from making his usual phone call to his family for unacceptable reasons.

For his part, leader of al-Wafa Party Abdul Wahhab Hussein accentuated, "Acquitting or sentencing me to life prison makes no difference to me; the sentence has no credibility, and my faith in this cause is unwavering."

Movements and Stances

Bahrain Watchdog for Human Rights is to hold on Wednesday, in the Waad Association Headquarter, a solidarity protest for Bahraini detained activists Nabil Rajab, Abdel Hadi al-Khawaja, and Youssef al-Muhafatha.

Legally, the attorney-at-law Mohammad al-Jeshe demanded the appeal on charges filed against two policemen who murdered a citizen to be charged of premeditated murder, while the defendants' lawyer pleaded innocence.

Moreover, an official in the Islamic Action Society (Amal) Hisham al-Sabbagh underlined, "Dialogue is disagreed upon domestically, and even in the event that an opposing party enters dialogue, symbolic figures must not be subject to compromising."
For his part, the opposing official Abdel Hadi Khalaf told Lebanese "as-Saffir" daily that the Bahraini regime and its opposition have reached a dead end, and there is no choice but to solve Bahrain's crisis.

Likewise, Bahraini MP Khaled Abdel Aal emphasized in a statement that, "Bahrain's international reputation has become shameful when it failed to commit to its vows of reformation and freedom of speech among other rights, and security forces continue their violations on protestors."

Source: al-Ahed News, translated and edited by moqawama.org