Bahraini Regime Arrests Son over Father’s Political Activities

Sheikh Abdullah Saleh, the deputy secretary general of Bahrain’s Islamic Action Society (Al Amal), gave an exclusive interview to Tasnim on December 14, in which he strongly condemned Al Khalifa regime for the atrocities it has committed against the Bahraini nation, and stressed that the ruling family has failed to silence the protests that are bent on seeing it out of power.

Sheikh Saleh, however, told Tasnim on Sunday that the security forces in Manama airport have arrested his son, Yasser Abdollah Saleh, seemingly in the wake of his political stances and his interview with the Tasnim News Agency.

“My son… has not been involved in any political activities. Yasser Saleh only took part in religious, cultural and social activities,” said the father.

According to Sheikh Abdullah Saleh, his son had been on his way back to Bahrain after attending a ritual ceremony in Iraq when he was apprehended by security agents at the airport and taken to an unknown location.

The political activist further made it clear that his son’s arrest could never force him to stay silent on the regime’s atrocities, and stated that Yasser was not the only prisoner in the Arab country, but “the whole Bahraini nation are now being imprisoned.”

In his interview with Tasnim on December 14, Sheikh Abdullah Saleh had announced that “it is a source of pride for the people of Bahrain that the Al Khalifa regime has been unable to stop and suppress the uprising despite receiving military support from 6 countries and possessing all equipment needed to crack down on dissent.”

He named Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and the Fifth Fleet of the United States Navy as providing support for the Bahraini government in its crackdown on the opposition.

An uprising broke out in Bahrain in mid-February 2011. The protesters initially called for political reforms and a constitutional monarchy, but the regime’s heavy-handed crackdown on them soon prompted an outright call for the ouster of Al Khalifa regime.

The Persian Gulf state has seen frequent unrest since authorities cracked down on the popular uprising against the ruling monarchy in early 2011.

Protesters were met with overwhelming military force leading to at least 89 deaths, according to the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).

Human Rights Watch has accused the Bahraini government of violence and torture, with frequent reports of child protesters facing conditions which border on torture while in custody.