Bahraini family devastated after parents stripped of citizenship
TEHRAN(Basirat): Bahraini judicial officials have reportedly devastated a family after they revoked the parents’ citizenship as the ruling Al Khalifah regime intensifies its crackdown against political dissidents and pro-democracy campaigners in the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom.
Bahrain’s Fourth High Criminal Court, presided by judge Badr
al-Abdullah, sentenced anti-regime activist Zainab Makki Abbas Marhoun to one
year in jail earlier this week, and stripped her of Bahraini citizenship,
Arabic-language Bahrain Mirror news website reported.
Zainab was put on trial along with a group of defendants, who received jail
terms, ranging from one to 15 years.
Her husband was sentenced to 7 years behind bars and his citizenship was revoked
as well.
Zainab was arrested after regime forces raided her home in the western village
of Karzakan, located 20 kilometers southwest of the capital Manama, last year.
Her father was beaten and humiliated at the time.
She is the second female Bahraini political dissident to be stripped of her
citizenship, after Bahraini regime officials revoked Maryam Sayyed Ibrahim
Hussein Reza’s citizenship in 2012.
Zainab is the mother of two young children, named Mohammed and Amir. Under her
sentence, she has to leave her two children and go to prison. The fate of the
children remains unknown as she has to undergo complicated procedures to stay
with them.
Even though the two children will keep their Bahraini citizenship, dropping the
citizenship of their parents will create serious complications in their lives,
especially with regard to situations that would require legal engagement with
their parents, proof of identity or legal papers.
Thousands of anti-regime protesters have held demonstrations in Bahrain on an
almost daily basis ever since a popular uprising began in the country in
mid-February 2011.
They are demanding that the Al Khalifah regime relinquish power and allow a just
system representing all Bahrainis to be established.
Manama has gone to great lengths to clamp down on any sign of dissent. On March
14, 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were deployed to
assist Bahrain in its crackdown.
Scores of people have lost their lives and hundreds of others sustained injuries
or got arrested as a result of the Al Khalifah regime’s crackdown.
On March 5, 2017, Bahrain’s parliament approved the trial of civilians at
military tribunals in a measure blasted by human rights campaigners as being
tantamount to imposition of an undeclared martial law countrywide.
Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifah ratified the constitutional amendment on
April 3 last year.
Source:PressTV
