Activist Slams Manama Regime’s Security Approach to Bahrain’s Crisis
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A Bahraini political activist decried a recent move by the Al Khalifa regime to sentence six dissidents to death on trumped-up charges and said Manama is using “a security approach” to the ongoing crisis in the Persian Gulf country.
“The fact is that the ruling system in Bahrain has reached a point that all of its actions are carried out according to the wishes of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates,” Hassan Qambar said in an interview with the Tasnim News Agency.
The Al Khalifa regime has taken a path different from its people, he said, adding that instead of seeking a solution, it is complicating the situation in the Arab country.
“The Al Khalifa regime chose the security approach instead of a political solution, and today, we are witnessing that it has also resorted to military options, as seen in the case of the trial of civilians in military courts and the issuing of death sentences against them,” the activist said.
A Bahraini military court handed down the death sentences on Monday and revoked the six people’s citizenship for “forming a terror cell, attempting to assassinate Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal Sheikh Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa and committing other acts of terror.”
The King of Bahrain in April ratified the constitutional amendment giving the military judiciary vast authorities, including trying civilians.
Bahraini authorities claim that this law is meant to combat terrorism, yet it brings back the same approach of military courts upon which authorities tried people by virtue of the martial law imposed by the king in March 2011.
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.
