ID :
179483
Tue, 05/03/2011 - 07:43
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/179483
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Bahraini Opposition Leader Urges Int'l Help to Prevent Execution of Activists
TEHRAN, May 3 (FNA)- Leader of Bahrain's Shiite Al-Wefaq Association Ali Salman called on international organizations and human rights bodies to take rapid measures to prevent execution of four political activists by the al-Khalifa regime.
His plea came after a Bahraini national security court sentenced to death four Shiite protesters for the alleged crime of killing two policemen in antigovernment protests in the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom earlier this year.
The convictions, announced by Bahrain's state-controlled news agency, the Bahrain News Agency, are the first judicial action related to the demonstrations that have rocked the country. Opposition leaders, including the nation's largest Shiite political organization, criticized the verdict, calling it part of the wider crackdown on dissidents underway in the kingdom.
At least two dozen protesters have been killed and hundreds of others arrested in the crackdown. Four security officials, including the two policemen, also have died in the street clashes. Four protesters have died in police custody since their arrests.
Thursday's verdict ended a closed-door trial of seven Shiite men charged with premeditated murder for intentionally running over two policemen with a vehicle during the protests. The military court sentenced four of the men to death and three to life imprisonment, according to the Bahrain News Agency.
The seven men, most of whom ranged from 20 to 25 years old, had pleaded not guilty.
One of the group's lawyers, a human-rights activist in Bahrain, was jailed during the court proceedings and is now being held incommunicado, according to Mohammed Al-Maskati, another Bahraini rights activist.
Maskati said many in the Shiite community believe that the defendants didn't receive a fair trial and that the charges were politically motivated. Martial law has suspended all civil rights in the country. The defendants' families haven't had access to the men since their arrests earlier this month, he said.
The Shiite Al Wefaq association, the largest political opposition group in Bahrain, has for years sought to negotiate more reforms with the government, but it has rejected recent government overtures to end the crisis, calling them insincere.
"We want talks and had entered talks with the crown prince but the talks were suspended after continued security measures and the interference of the Army in the suppression of people," Ali Salman said.
"We still want serious and real political talks with the partnership of all Bahraini sides," he added.
His plea came after a Bahraini national security court sentenced to death four Shiite protesters for the alleged crime of killing two policemen in antigovernment protests in the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom earlier this year.
The convictions, announced by Bahrain's state-controlled news agency, the Bahrain News Agency, are the first judicial action related to the demonstrations that have rocked the country. Opposition leaders, including the nation's largest Shiite political organization, criticized the verdict, calling it part of the wider crackdown on dissidents underway in the kingdom.
At least two dozen protesters have been killed and hundreds of others arrested in the crackdown. Four security officials, including the two policemen, also have died in the street clashes. Four protesters have died in police custody since their arrests.
Thursday's verdict ended a closed-door trial of seven Shiite men charged with premeditated murder for intentionally running over two policemen with a vehicle during the protests. The military court sentenced four of the men to death and three to life imprisonment, according to the Bahrain News Agency.
The seven men, most of whom ranged from 20 to 25 years old, had pleaded not guilty.
One of the group's lawyers, a human-rights activist in Bahrain, was jailed during the court proceedings and is now being held incommunicado, according to Mohammed Al-Maskati, another Bahraini rights activist.
Maskati said many in the Shiite community believe that the defendants didn't receive a fair trial and that the charges were politically motivated. Martial law has suspended all civil rights in the country. The defendants' families haven't had access to the men since their arrests earlier this month, he said.
The Shiite Al Wefaq association, the largest political opposition group in Bahrain, has for years sought to negotiate more reforms with the government, but it has rejected recent government overtures to end the crisis, calling them insincere.
"We want talks and had entered talks with the crown prince but the talks were suspended after continued security measures and the interference of the Army in the suppression of people," Ali Salman said.
"We still want serious and real political talks with the partnership of all Bahraini sides," he added.
