Senior cleric raps Manama for decision against Sheikh Qasim

Speaking to the media, Ayatollah Ali Malakouti pointed to the possibility that Ayatollah Isa Qasim, the spiritual leader of Bahrain’s Shi’a majority, will be put on trial in coming days, and said such a move by the Manama regime would be “contrary to religion and humanity.”

If the Al Khalifah regime makes the brazen move to try him, “the absurdity and stupidity of the regime will be proved to the world,” the cleric said.

Ayatollah Malakouti added that the trial of Ayatollah Qasim will make people’s blood boil and accelerate the extinction of the “hollowed out state.”

Ayatollah Qasim will reportedly go on trial in August for alleged “money laundering” amid simmering tensions after the Manama regime decided to revoke his nationality.

The regime announced on June 20 that the citizenship of Ayatollah Qasim has been revoked, accusing him of sowing sectarian divisions.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 Khalifah 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.

/SR