Bahrain activists 'jailed for life'
| Aljazeera--Bahrain has sentenced 10 prominent activists to life in prison for plotting a coup during protests that rocked the Sunni-ruled Gulf island kingdom earlier this year, Reuters reports. |
The court on Wednesday also sentenced other defendants among 21 suspects on trial to between two and five years in jail.
Protesters in Bahrain blocked roads and staged rallies before the mass trial of activists, accused of plotting against the state.
Authorities claimed the activists, all of whom are Shia, had sought to overthrow Bahrain's Sunni monarchy and have links to "a terrorist organisation abroad" - a veiled reference to Iran.
Witnesses say Shia demonstrators made roadblocks with sand and debris, and called for marches to oppose the trial. No violence was reported.
On Tuesday night, several villages had demonstrated in solidarity with the opposition leaders facing charges.
Residents and activists said small protests broke out in some areas to chants of "Down, down (King) Hamad", as police cars rushed to block the roads to the villages.
Death penalty
Bahrain says it has only tried a small percentage of those involved in the mass protests this year, targeting only crime suspects.
The government contests the opposition's estimate that some 400 people are on trial, saying the number is far smaller.
Among those facing verdicts on Wednesday is Hassan Mushaima, head of the opposition Haq movement, which called for the overthrow of the monarchy during the protests, and Abdulhady al-Khawaja, a well-known rights activist.
Mushaima returned in February to Bahrain from self-imposed exile in the UK after authorities dropped charges against him.
Ibrahim Sharif, the Sunni leader of the secular leftist group Waad, will also receive a verdict. Waad had joined the largest Shia opposition group Wefaq in calling for reforms to the constitutional monarchy.
Some activists sent telephone text messages calling on followers to protest again on Wednesday in a "Day of loyalty to the symbols", to demand the release of the defendants and rejection of the government's dialogue offer.
Sunni-ruled Bahrain, home to the US Fifth Fleet, invited Saudi and other Gulf troops in mid-March to help crush the pro-democracy protests that were led by majority Shia.