Alwaght- Bahrain's leading Shiite cleric Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim has been discharged from hospital after surgery and returned to house arrest imposed by the Al Khalifa regime.
According to sources, Sheikh Isa Qassim returned on Sunday to his besieged house in Diraz, two days after undergoing an urgent surgery.
Sheikh Qassim has been under house arrest since the King of Bahrain issued decree last year revoking his citizenship due to his stances that support the political reforms and his trial over a charge related to a Shiite religious ritual.
Four UN experts called on Bahraini authorities to allow Sheikh Isa Qassim receive needed treatment, adding that he should be free to move around without restrictions and not be subject to de facto house arrest.
On May 21, a Bahraini court convicted Sheikh Qassim of illegal collection of funds, known as Khums in Shiite Islam, and money laundering and sentenced him to one year in jail suspended for three years.
The top Shiite Islamic scholar also faces expulsion from Bahrain after authorities revoked his citizenship, accusing him of “illegal fund collections, money laundering and helping terrorism.” They further accused him of using his position to “serve foreign interests” and promote “sectarianism and violence.” He has strongly rejected all the allegations.
Thousands of anti-regime protesters have held demonstrations in Bahrain on an almost daily basis ever since a popular uprising began in the kingdom in mid-February 2011.
They are demanding that the west-backed Al Khalifah dynasty relinquish power and allow a just system representing all Bahrainis to be established in the Shiite-majority Persian Gulf kingdom.
