REUTERS: Bahrain put 21 mostly Shi'ite activists, including a prominent hardline dissident, on trial on Sunday, charged with trying to topple the government during weeks of protests in February and March.
Bahrain, a Sunni-ruled island kingdom, cracked down on the protests demanding greater political freedoms, a constitutional monarchy and an end to sectarian discrimination.
The crackdown, in which neighboring Sunni-led Gulf states sent troops to back Bahrain's forces, has boosted regional tension with Iran, which Bahrain accuses of manipulating its Shi'ite co-religionists to expand its influence.
Those on trial on Sunday face a hybrid civilian-military court where military prosecutors try the case before a panel of one military and two civilian judges.
Those on trial include Shi'ite dissident Hassan Mushaimaa, leader of the opposition group Haq who has called for the overthrow of the Sunni al-Khalifa monarchy, and Ebrahim Shareef, the Sunni leader of the secular Waad group that has called for a constitutional monarchy but has not joined those seeking to oust the king.
Bahrain's state news agency said the defendants were accused of involvement in an "attempt to overthrow the government by force and in liaison with a terrorist organization working for a foreign country."
Rights groups said the defendants should be tried before civil courts, saying the military courts did not allow the accused to defend themselves properly. » | MANAMA | Sunday, May 08, 2011
