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Al-Ahed Telegram

Bahrain Crackdown: Sheikh Qassim’s Suspended Prison Sentence & Citizenship Revocation Upheld

Bahrain Crackdown: Sheikh Qassim’s Suspended Prison Sentence & Citizenship Revocation Upheld
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Local Editor

Bahrain's highest religious authority his Eminence Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim has had his 1-year suspended prison sentence upheld by Manama's Cassation Court on Monday.

Bahrain Crackdown: Sheikh Qassim’s Suspended Prison Sentence & Citizenship Revocation Upheld

The court also upheld a June 2016 ruling that stripped the senior cleric of his Bahraini citizenship.

Sheikh Qassim was charged with money laundering and fueling extremism - allegations widely dismissed as politically motivated and part of Manama's ongoing crackdown on dissent.

During the regime's years-long persecution of the ailing cleric, the courts also revoked his authority over the Shiite religious practice of khums - payments made by Shiite Muslims to clerics for charitable distribution to the community.

Last May, the apartheid kingdom's security forces carried out a bloody raid on his hometown of Diraz, martyring five people, and placing Sheikh Qassim under house arrest.

During much of his ordeal, he has been deprived of adequate medical care, which led to numerous health complications.

Since 2011, Al Khalifa regime authorities have jailed dozens of high-profile activists and disbanded both religious and secular opposition groups.

They have also stripped hundreds of their citizenship, making many stateless, according to Amnesty International.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

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