12 Bahraini Shia Sentenced to Life Imprisonment and Revocation of Citizenship

A court in Bahrain sentenced 12 Shia individuals to life imprisonment and revoked their citizenship on charges of "forming a terrorist group" and "attacking police with explosives." Isa Ibrahim, the lawyer for the 12 defendants, told the Associated Press on Sunday, November 24, that the Bahraini Supreme Court issued these sentences in connection with events from 2013 and 2014. However, this Bahraini lawyer did not provide details about these events. Previously, on November 14, five Bahraini Shia were sentenced to life imprisonment and stripped of their citizenship for allegedly spying for Iran. At that time, Agence France-Presse reported that three of these five individuals, one of whom is in Iran, were tried in absentia, and the other two stated in court that they were forced to confess under torture. The Bahraini prosecution accused these individuals of cooperating with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and intending to carry out terrorist operations in public places and banks in Bahrain, stating that two of them had received bomb-making training in Iran. The day before, the Bahraini police announced that they had discovered a "terrorist network" linked to Iran and arrested 47 of its members. In recent months, the Bahraini government has reported the discovery of Shia terrorist networks linked to Iran as well as Sunni networks connected to the Islamic State (ISIS). Relations between Bahrain and Iran have soured since 2011 when anti-government protests in Manama, Bahrain's capital, were primarily initiated by Shia. Since then, Bahrain has repeatedly accused the IRGC of training and equipping terrorists for operations in the country. For instance, on September 30, the Bahraini Ministry of Interior reported the discovery of a large bomb-making workshop in a village south of Manama and the arrest of several individuals "linked to the IRGC." The Bahraini government labeled Mohammad Reza Babaei, Iran's chargé d'affaires in Manama, as an "undesirable element" and gave him 72 hours to leave the country, while simultaneously recalling its ambassador from Tehran. Iran, which has consistently denied these accusations, retaliated by expelling the second-in-command of the Bahraini embassy on October 10. In this context, Bahrain reported the sentencing of five Bahrainis to prison and the revocation of citizenship on charges of "connections with the IRGC." Bahrain announced the arrest of 47 members of a "terrorist group linked to Iran" and the Foreign Minister of Bahrain stated that the threat from Iran is no less than that from ISIS. Bahrain accused 24 individuals of attempting to form a branch of the "Islamic State."