Bahrain upholds dissenters’ sentences

 
By Simeon Kerr in Dubai
 

Bahrain’s highest court has reaffirmed sentences against the political figureheads of a revolt in the country for trying to overthrow the Gulf monarchy, further undermining prospects for reconciliation.
 
The court of cassation on Monday reaffirmed sentences ranging from five years to life imprisonment for 13 dissidents who were at the forefront of the anonymous, youth-driven protests that erupted in February 2011.
 

 With the backing of neighbouring Gulf states, the minority Sunni-led government in March brutally put down the uprising led by the majority Shia community.
 
Amid a broad crackdown on dissent, the leaders were arrested and tried by a military court as the government claimed to have uncovered a conspiracy against the Gulf fed by neighbouring Iran.
 
The leaders include radical Shia leader Hassan al-Mushaima, human rights defender Abdulhadi al-Khawaja and Sunni secularist Ibrahim al-Sharif.
 
At the time, the Navi Pillay, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said the harsh sentences bore the hallmarks of political persecution.
 
A civilian court in September reaffirmed the sentences against 20 leaders, seven of whom are in hiding, including Ali Abdulemam, an influential blogger behind a website that ignited and fanned the February revolt.
 
Ali Salman, the secretary-general of the main Shia opposition group, al-Wefaq, said the appointed government would soon fall. “The sentences handed down to the leaders are the fuel that will sustain the revolution,” he tweeted.
 
The government was unavailable for comment.
 
The sentencing will probably prove to be another impediment to efforts aiming to lead to a frank dialogue between the government and the opposition.
 
Reformists within the ruling family have been seeking ways to start talks with the opposition, but hardliners within the establishment are opposed, a view echoed by large parts of the Sunni population who fear the political empowerment of the Shia majority.

al-Wefaq, meanwhile, is losing street support to the youth-led February 14th movement, which is cautioning the opposition against dialogue in the midst of ongoing repression.
 
King Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa last year appointed an independent inquiry into the violence of 2011, which lambasted the security forces for excessive use of force and systematic and systemic torture.
 
The government has since pledged judicial and security reforms, but the opposition says the change is shallow.
 
Bahrain’s western allies say they are encouraging the government’s reform process, but conceded that the pace is slow.
 
In the meantime, violent protests have continued as Bahraini society becomes increasingly polarised along sectarian lines.
 
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2013.