Bahraini Regime Summons 3 More Shiite Clerics for Interrogation
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Manama regime, in yet another move in its brutal campaign against the majority Shiites of the Persian Gulf country, summoned three prominent Shiite clerics for interrogation, local reports said.
Political activists said on social media that the Al Khalifa regime has summoned Sheikh Ali Al-Hamli, Seyed Mohsen Al-Ghoreify and Sheikh Fadel Al-Zaki, the Bahrain Mirror reported on Saturday.
They are top members of the Islamic Scholars Council, the highest Shiite institution in the country which was dissolved by the Bahraini government in 2014, according to the report.
The Bahraini authorities intensified their crackdown on dissidents since June, after revoking the nationality of Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim, the spiritual leader of Bahrain's Shiites.
The Al Khalifa regime announced on June 20 that the citizenship of Sheikh Qassim has been revoked, accusing him of sowing sectarian divisions.
The regime later said it would put the senior cleric on trial on charges of “illegal fund collections, money laundering and helping terrorism.”
Sheikh Qassim’s planned trial was adjourned until August 14 after the prominent figure did not appear in court on July 27.
Bahrain, a close ally of the US in the Persian Gulf region, has been witnessing almost daily protests against the ruling Al Khalifa dynasty since early 2011, with Manama using heavy-handed measures in an attempt to crush the demonstrations.
Scores of Bahrainis have been killed and hundreds of others injured and arrested in the ongoing crackdown on the peaceful demonstrations.
Amnesty International and many other international rights organizations have frequently censured the Bahraini regime for the rampant human rights abuses against opposition groups and anti-regime protesters.
