Prison Sentences and Revocation of Citizenship for Eight Shia Citizens of Bahrain

A court in Bahrain sentenced eight Shia citizens of the country to 15 years in prison on charges of forming a 'terrorist group.' On Thursday, June 17, the French news agency reported, citing an unnamed judicial source in Bahrain, that the court also revoked the citizenship of these eight defendants. The source stated that the court convicted the defendants for 'collecting financial aid to establish a terrorist organization called Hezbollah Bahrain.' The name of this group may remind many of Hezbollah Lebanon, which is supported by Iran, but the French news agency writes that the court sees no connection between the two groups. The report states that the defendants established the mentioned group in 2014 and, according to Bahraini judicial officials, were in the process of collecting weapons and planning to kill police officers in the Al-Nuwidrat area, located east of Manama, when they were arrested. Bahraini judicial officials said that the defendants held an unauthorized demonstration in Al-Nuwidrat two summers ago, during which one of them shot at a police patrol vehicle. Two other defendants were also sentenced to three years in prison for participating in this demonstration. Additionally, another court in Bahrain sentenced 13 people to 15 years in prison for attempting to kill police officers with Molotov cocktails. In relation to the same case, 22 others were sentenced to one year in prison. A new wave of prison sentences against government opponents in Bahrain has emerged just days after Bahraini authorities banned the main opposition group in the country, Al-Wefaq. Meanwhile, Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, expressed concern about the Bahraini government's pressure on the opposition. He stated that recent actions against the opposition in Bahrain could undermine the reform process and national dialogue in the country. Bahrain has been the scene of numerous protests since 2011, which continue in some areas of the country and its Shia-populated villages.