Bahraini protesters took to the streets in several villages, carrying placards that featured the portraits of imprisoned political activists. The demonstrators also chanted anti-regime slogans during the rallies, calling on Manama to release the political prisoners.
On June 3, a Bahraini court sentenced a group of 21 anti-regime protesters to 15 years in jail each amid the harsh crackdown on political dissent in the country, Press TV reported.
Bahrain’s main opposition group Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society said in a statement that the detainees had been subjected to torture during their detention and interrogation sessions.
Earlier this week, reports said a number of prisoners in Bahrain had gone on hunger strike to protest mistreatment and denial of their basic rights in Bahraini detention centers. Al-Wefaq has voiced concern over the safety of the striking detainees.
Over the past years, the Manama regime’s human rights record has come under scrutiny over its handling of the peaceful protests across the Persian Gulf country. Scores of Bahraini political activists have been placed behind bars for organizing or taking part in the demonstrations against the rule of the Al Khalifa regime.
Since mid-February 2011, thousands of anti-regime protesters have held numerous demonstrations in the streets of Bahrain, calling for the Al Khalifa family to relinquish power. Scores of people have been killed and hundreds of others injured in the Manama regime’s heavy-handed crackdown on peaceful demonstrations.