Agence France Presse reported this week that a Manama court has sentenced 11 Shiite protesters to five years in jail each for allegedly "attacking police."
According to the report, the 11 charged participated in an unauthorized demonstration in Al Maameer and used molotov cocktails and iron rods to assault police authorities present at the demonstration.
Manama has increased its crackdown on protests and opposition demonstrators within the last year, three years after the massive February 2011 Arab Spring protests swept the nation. As of 2013, convicted protesters may be sentenced to the death penalty or to life under new law regulations.
