DUBAI: A Bahraini court yesterday sentenced 18 Shias to between five and seven years in prison after they were convicted of attacking a police station, a judicial source said.
Fifteen defendants were jailed for seven years and three for five years after being of attacking the police station in a Shiite village near Manama last November. They had been charged with “aggression” against police, “possession of petrol bombs” and taking part in an unauthorised protest “aiming at undermining public security”.
No casualties were reported in the attack. Yesterday’s ruling brings to 122 the number of Shias jailed since September 29 in connection with violence in the kingdom that began in February 2011 with a month-long uprising.
Bahraini Shias continue to demonstrate in villages outside the capital and frequently clash with police. At least 89 people have been killed since the protests began two-and-a-half years ago.
Afp
