Bahrain forces detain another Shia cleric Sheikh Bashar al-Aali

Bahraini regime forces have arrested another Shia Muslim cleric as the ruling Al Khalifah dynasty presses ahead with its heavy-handed crackdown and persecution of the members of the religious community.

Bahraini troopers stormed the house of Sheikh Bashar al-Aali in the northwestern coastal town of al-Budaiya on Thursday afternoon, and arrested the cleric without providing any reasons.

Back in February, Bahraini regime officials ordered Sheikh Aali to pay 50 dinars (more than 132 UD dollars) on charges of offending senior authorities in a series of sermons delivered during the first month of the Islamic lunar calendar Muharram – the tenth day of which is known as Ashura, and marks the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein (PBUH), the third Shia Imam.

On April 28, Masked Bahraini troopers raided the house of Sheikh Abdulzahra Karbabadi in the northern village of Karbabad, and arrested the cleric and his wife.

Regime forces later stormed the village of Karrana, and arrested the cleric’s sister.

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 dynasty 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, 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 monarch King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifah ratified the constitutional amendment on April 3.