Alwaght- Top Bahraini Shiite cleric Sheikh Isa Qassim, who has been stripped of his nationality by the ruling Al Khalifah regime, has been rushed to hospital over deteriorating health.
The hospitalization of the spiritual leader of Bahraini Shiite Muslims comes as the Manama regime continues its brutal crackdown of peaceful pro-democracy protests across the tiny Persian Gulf monarchy.
Arabic-language Lualua television network reported that the 81-year-old cleric was hospitalized on Wednesday.
Sheikh Qassim was taken to a private hospital in critical condition late last year, and went under a surgery in February.
On May 21 last year, 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.
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 regime relinquish power and allow a just system representing all Bahrainis to be established.
The Western-backed Al Khalifa regime 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.
Many people have lost their lives and hundreds of others sustained injuries while thousands have been arrested in the regime’s crackdown. Many political detainees are suffering torture and inhuman treatment in the regime's notorious detention centers.
