Alwaght- A Bahraini regime court has upheld a one year prison term for a Shiite cleric over his support for prominent Shiite cleric, Sheikh Isa Qassim.
The regime’s Court of Appeals upheld a ruling against Sheikh Hamza al-Dairi over his participation in a sit-in near Sheikh Qassim's residence in the northwestern village of Diraz, situated some 12 kilometers west of the capital Manama, in late May last year.
Following the verdict, Bahraini forces on Wednesday arrested the cleric and took him to a detention facility.
Last year, a court in Bahrain handed down a one-year jail term to Sheikh Dairi, and ordered him to pay a fine of 500 Bahraini dinars ($1,326.15).
The repressive Bahrani regime killed 6 citizens in Diraz and is imprisoning dozens over taking part in the protest held near Sheikh Isa Qassim house, who is under house arrest since his citizenship was revoked in June 2016.
On May 21, a Bahraini court convicted Sheikh Qassim of illegal collection of funds and money laundering and sentenced him to one year in jail suspended for three years.
It also ordered him to pay $265,266 in fines. The court ruling sparked widespread demonstrations across the kingdom.
Bahraini authorities stripped the cleric of his citizenship on June 20, 2016. They later dissolved the Islamic Enlightenment Institution, founded by him, in addition to the United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric demanded last November that the top Shia cleric be released, and asked for immediate medical attention for him.
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.
