Since June, Bahraini authorities have closed down the main Shi’ite opposition group al-Wefaq, revoked the citizenship of top Shi’ite Muslim cleric Ayatollah Isa Qassim and re-arrested prominent rights campaigner Nabeel Rajab for anti-government Tweets. “Everybody must support the measures taken by the state against those who violate the law, incite violence and are linked with forces overseas”, the ministry said in a statement. “These actions are inconsistent with US interests and strain our partnership with Bahrain”, said Secretary of State John Kerry in a statement.
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Bahrain has rebuffed its British and U.S. allies over a ban on the main opposition group in the country, insisting it “will brook no interference in its internal affairs”.
Neither Al-Wefaq, nor Bahraini officials were available for comment, AP reports.
The court concluded that Al Wefaq swerved in the course of its political activities to the extent of incitement of violence and encouraged demonstrations and sit-ins that could lead to sectarian strife in the country.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE helped Bahrain quell the uprising, but low-level and occasionally violent unrest continues to roil the kingdom despite reforms put in place following the Arab Spring-inspired uprising.
Close ally Britain expressed deep concern at Sunday’s ruling and a statement by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson urged Bahrain to guarantee political freedoms for all its citizens.
Its high court ratified the decision on Sunday.
Last month, an appeal court more than doubled the prison sentence of Wefaq’s secretary-general from four years to nine, overturning a trial court’s decision to acquit Sheikh Salman of advocating the overthrow of the government by force.
“Today’s decision is a risky mistake, leaving no real outlet for peaceful grievance left in Bahrain”, he said. The royal family and by extension the government are Sunnis, but a majority of the population are Shi’ites.
Bahrain is a member of the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State jihadist group in Syria.
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The United States and the United Nations have criticised the move, seen by local activists as part of a wider crackdown on dissent in the Western-allied kingdom, which has provoked a daily vigil outside Qassim’s house that on some days swells to several thousand people.
