Rally Held in Washington in Solidarity with Bahraini Top Cleric (+Photos)
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Tasnim) – A group of rights activists and Muslim people staged a protest rally in the US capital to condemn the Bahraini regime’s recent move to revoke the nationality of the most prominent Shiite cleric in the Arab country, Sheikh Isa Ahmed Qassim.
According to Tasnim dispatches, the demonstrators held the rally in front of the Bahraini embassy in Washington on Thursday to voice their outrage over A Khalifa ruling regime’s decision to strip Sheikh Qassim of his citizenship.
During the demonstration organized by the Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB), the protesters carried pictures of the top cleric and political prisoners in the Persian Gulf country.
They were also holding up various placards, saying, “STOP SILENCING CIVIL SOCIETY,” “END TRAVEL BANS,” and “FREE SHEIKH ALI SALMAN.”
Bahrain announced on June 20 that the citizenship of Sheikh Qassim has been revoked, accusing him of sowing sectarian divisions.
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.
Amnesty International and many other international rights organizations have frequently censured the Bahraini regime for the rampant human rights abuses against opposition groups and anti-regime protesters.
