{"id":17447,"date":"2013-05-21T09:45:00","date_gmt":"2013-05-21T15:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/?p=17447"},"modified":"2013-05-21T09:45:00","modified_gmt":"2013-05-21T15:45:00","slug":"contrived-charges-and-fictions-of-terrorism-put-nine-behind-bars-in-bahrain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/?p=17447","title":{"rendered":"Contrived Charges and fictions of terrorism put nine behind bars in Bahrain"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bahrain court jails nine Shiites over \u2018terror\u2019 cell<\/strong>
\n21 May, 2013 – Punch<\/p>\n

A Bahraini court sentenced nine Shiites to jail terms ranging between 10 and 15 years on Monday after convicting them of forming a \u2018terrorist\u2019 group, a judicial source said.<\/p>\n

Cleric Ahmed al-Majed and a second defendant were jailed for 15 years, while a third defendant was sentenced to 10 years.<\/p>\n

The three were the only defendants to appear in court, as the other six remain at large and were sentenced in absentia to 10 years, the source said.<\/p>\n

The first two were convicted of \u201cforming an illegal group that aimed to jeopardise the rule of law and obstruct state institutions from performing their duties\u2026 through using terrorism,\u201d the source said, quoting the list of charges.<\/p>\n

The other seven defendants were accused of joining the group despite knowing of its \u201cterrorist objectives\u201d.<\/p>\n

All defendants were convicted for \u201cpossessing explosives\u201d, the source added.<\/p>\n

Scores of Shiites have faced jail terms over accusations of involvement in violence since protests against the regime of the ruling Al-Khalifa Sunni dynasty erupted in February 2011.<\/p>\n

Despite a heavy-handed crackdown by security forces in mid-March 2011, supported by Saudi-led Gulf troops, protesters were shortly back on the streets, mainly in Shiite villages, where they frequently clash with police.<\/p>\n

At least 80 people have been killed in Bahrain since February 2011, according to the International Federation for Human Rights.<\/p>\n

Strategically located just across the Gulf from Iran, Bahrain is home to the US Navy\u2019s Fifth Fleet and is also a major offshore financial and services centre for its Arab neighbours in the oil-rich Gulf.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, thousands of people rallied in the Shiite village of Nuwaidrat, south of Manama, to welcome an imprisoned opposition leader who was released briefly for his mother\u2019s funeral, witnesses said.<\/p>\n

Supporters filled the streets on Monday to welcome Abdulwahab Hussein, the head of the Shiite Wafa Islamic Movement.<\/p>\n

Hussein was to return to prison later, Al-Wefaq, the Shiite main opposition group, said on its website.<\/p>\n

He is serving a life sentence with six other opposition leaders and activists after being convicted of plotting to overthrow the monarchy.<\/p>\n

They are part of group of 21 sentenced to jail terms ranging from five years to life over their roles in the nationwide protests.<\/p>\n

Seven were sentenced in absentia. …more<\/a><\/p>\n

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Bahrain court jails nine Shiites over \u2018terror\u2019 cell 21 May, 2013 – Punch A Bahraini court sentenced nine Shiites to jail terms ranging between 10 and 15 years on Monday after convicting them of forming a \u2018terrorist\u2019 group, a judicial source said. Cleric Ahmed al-Majed and a second defendant were jailed for 15 years, while more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[247],"tags":[2265],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17447"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17447"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17447\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17449,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17447\/revisions\/17449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}