Bahraini Court Orders Expulsion of Two Dissidents
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A Bahraini court issued a verdict to expel two dissidents, whose citizenship had been revoked for political reasons.
The court also sentenced Ali Esfandiar Khodad Mohammad and Hossein Khairallah Mohammad Mohammadi to pay a fine of 100 Bahraini dinars, Bahrain Mirror reported on Friday.
The two exiled Bahrainis are among those 72 people, whose nationalities had been annulled without judicial charges on January 31.
This is while thousands of foreign nationals are already holding Bahraini passports and many more others are on the waiting list.
Since 1980s, the ruling Al Khalifa regime has been trying to change the Kingdom’s demographic structure which largely consists of Shiites.
Measures have also been taken by Manama to limit the electoral power of the Shiite majority including granting Bahraini citizenship and the right to vote to 20,000 tribal Sunnis from Saudi Arabia, without having to fulfill the criteria of citizenship.
The Western-allied kingdom, which is home to the US Navy's 5th Fleet, has been witnessing almost daily protests against the ruling Al Khalifa dynasty since early 2011, with Manama using heavy-handed measures in an attempt to crush the demonstrations.
Scores of Bahrainis have been killed and hundreds of others injured and arrested in the ongoing crackdown on the peaceful demonstrations.
