A Bahraini court has sentenced 12 anti-regime protesters to long prison terms of up to 15 years amid the persisting harsh crackdown on the country’s popular uprising.
The 12 young men were reportedly charged on Wednesday with “attacking” the regime’s Saudi-backed security forces during anti-government protest rallies in the Senabes and Alii villages of the Persian Gulf state.
According to a statement by the country’s main opposition bloc Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, two of the men were handed 15-year sentences, five were issued 10-year terms, four received 5-year ones and one was sentenced to 3 years behind bars.
Al-Wefaq further described the sentences as “vengeful and oppressive.”
“The judiciary’s series of harsh sentences will only further complicate the situation and deepen the crisis,” the opposition bloc said.
“It is time the international community realized that the Bahraini regime is not willing to abandon its repressive policy,” it added. “The ongoing arrests, killings, terrorism, and tightening on freedom of expression all reveal the true image of the regime.”
Al-Wefaq further urged the international community to adopt “a practical stance” rather than “just expressing concern.”
Scores of Bahraini political activists have already been placed behind bars for organizing or taking part in anti-regime demonstrations across the oil-rich monarchy, which is supported by a number of Western advocates of democracy, particularly the US and Britain, despite its appalling human rights record.
Moreover, the lengthy prison sentences come in conjunction with acquittals of the police officers and troops who killed protesters in the brutal crackdown on peaceful protests in February, 14, 2011.
This is while many prisoners continue to complain of torture and assault during their detention and interrogation to coerce them into making false confessions.
Source/Fuente: http://www.presstv.com/detail/2014/05/08/361774/bahrain-gives-jail-terms...
