24-04-2024 11:20 AM Jerusalem Timing

Bahrain Scholars: Regime Targeting Shia

Bahrain Scholars: Regime Targeting Shia

Prominent scholars in Bahrain warned that Shia have been targeted by Al Khalifa regime in the country.

Prominent scholars in Bahrain warned that Shia have been targeted by Al Khalifa regime in the country.

In a statement released on Monday, four prominent scholars called on the authorities to stop such acts against the country's Shia majority.

"As a genuine component in this country (the Shiite component), we believe that we are targeted in our presence, identity, beliefs, slogans and rituals."

Bahrain scholars"So we call for stopping such targeting," said the statement, signed by Ayatollah Sheikh Issa al-Qassem, Sayyed Abdullah Ghuraifi, Sheikh Abdul Hussein al-Satri and Sheikh Mohammad Saleh al-Rabii.

The Statement comes a day after a Bahraini court ordered the dissolution of main opposition group al-Wefaq, and the seizure of its funds.

Ayatollah Sheikh Issa al-Qassem himself, the spiritual leader of al-Wefaq, was stripped of his Bahraini citizenship last month.

Sunday's move was part of a wide crackdown on political dissent in Bahrain.

Al-Wefaq’s secretary general, Sheikh Ali Salman, has been in prison since December 2014 on charges of attempting to overthrow the regime and collaborating with foreign powers, charges he has denied. A court sentenced him to four years in prison in June 2015.