Bahrainis rage at brutal regime after female activists arrested
Bahrainis have once again rallied against the Al Khalifah regime’s crackdown on activists in the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom.
The protesters marched in the villages of Abu Saiba’, Nuwaidrat, and Eker, near the capital Manama in the early hours of Saturday.
They vented their anger at the ruling regime’s mistreatment of political prisoners, whose numbers have snowballed since the 2011 popular uprising.
The demonstrators stressed that the raging crackdown on dissent will not deter them from pursuing their legitimate rights. They also called for the release of all political prisoners, who have been tried in military courts.
The regime forces fired teargas to disperse the peaceful protesters in Nuwaidrat and Eker among others.
Zakih Issa al-Barboury, 28, and Fatima Daoud Hassan, 19, were the latest activists arrested during raids on their homes in Nuwaidrat. The Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) has described their detentions as arbitrary and unlawful. The reasons for the arrests were not immediately clear.
Rajab allowed visit by son
Bahrain’s Lulu TV said the son of imprisoned prominent Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab has been allowed to visit his father for the first time in a year.
Adam Rajab wrote on Twitter on Friday that he “left the prison with a feeling of strength and pride. The father looked strong despite awful conditions he is facing.”
In February, a court sentenced the prominent opposition figure and pro-democracy campaigner to five years in prison over tweets deemed critical of the Manama regime and the deadly Saudi-led war against Yemen.
He also faces a further 15 years in prison over separate charges related to his criticism of the ruling Al Khalifah family and Wahhabism.
The United Nations has said Rajab was arrested for “exercising his right to freedom of expression.”
Scores of people have been killed and hundreds of other pro-democracy protesters injured or arrested in the Al Khalifah regime’s crackdown since 2011.
In March, Bahrain’s parliament approved the trial of civilians at military tribunals in a measure blasted by human rights campaigners as being tantamount to imposition of an undeclared martial law.
