Bahrain sentences top cleric to suspended jail term

MANAMA - A Bahraini court on Sunday sentenced revered Muslim cleric Sheykh Isa Qassim to a suspended one-year jail term for alleged fundraising and money laundering, a move that is likely to inflame passions across the volatile region.

The criminal court handed down the same verdict to two of the cleric's aides, Sheikh Hussein Mahrus and Mirza al-Obaidli, the reports said, adding the sentences were suspended for three years.

The report said the Bahraini court had also ordered Qassim to pay a fine of 100,000 Bahraini dinars (over $265,000).

The court further ruled to confiscate Qassim's properties worth 3 million Bahraini dinars (almost $8 million) and two of his homes.

It said in a statement carried by the BNA state news agency that it was considering appealing the sentence.

Sheykh Qassim, 76, remains at his residence in the village of Diraz, outside Manama, where supporters have held a sit-in since June when he was stripped of his citizenship.

At the time, authorities accused him of abusing his position as a cleric to "serve foreign interests and promote... sectarianism and violence." The cleric has denied the allegations.

Massive crowds surged towards Diraz near the capital, brandishing posters of Qassim ahead of the verdict, witnesses said.

In a statement, the al-Wefaq National Islamic Society accused the Bahraini regime of having dragged the country into a new crisis, eliminating all possible political opportunities and depriving most citizens of their right to security, stability and justice.

It also called on the international community to help guarantee stability and contribute to a comprehensive democratic political process meant to bring Bahrain out of crisis and reflect the popular will.

The cleric, who is considered the spiritual leader of the majority community of Bahrain, went on trial in July.

Bahrain has been shaken by unrest since security forces crushed a mass uprising demanding a constitutional monarchy and an elected prime minister in 2011.

Despite repeated calls from their Western allies, Bahrain's rulers have made no concessions to the pro-democracy movement and have intensified a crackdown on critics.

The strategic Gulf kingdom is a key regional ally of the United States and serves as home for its Fifth Fleet.

The demonstrators are demanding that the Al Khalifah family relinquish power and let a just system representing all Bahrainis be established.

Scores of people have been killed and hundreds of others wounded or detained amid Manama's crackdown on dissent and discrimination against the country's majority population.

DAY OF RAGE

A number of Bahraini clerics condemned the Al Khalifa regime for sentencing Sheykh Isa Qassim to one year in prison, saying the verdict is tantamount to "a declaration of war".

The verdict issued against Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim is a declaration of war from the Manama regime, the clerics said in a statement issued on Sunday.

They also declared a day of public rage in Bahrain, calling on the people to stage more anti-regime protests until it makes a change in its "lunatic" policies.