A Bahraini opposition figure has condemned the monarchy’s persecution of Shia religious scholars as a politically motivated campaign to silence dissent, warning that such repression will only deepen the kingdom’s legitimacy crisis and strengthen popular demands for freedom and justice.
Speaking to the Press TV website, Abdulraoof Al-Shayeb, a Bahraini opposition figure and secretary-general of the Islamic Khalaas Movement, said that Manama is using its judiciary to “suppress dissent.”
“The Bahraini regime’s prosecution of religious scholars is not a matter of justice, but a political weapon used to suppress dissent and exploit regional tensions. It seeks to silence independent voices and turn the judiciary into an instrument of political repression,” he said.
“Religious scholars are not threats to national security; they are voices of conscience, dignity, and freedom. The real threat is a regime that fears its own people and criminalizes their aspirations for justice”
The Bahraini opposition leader said no regional considerations can justify the imprisonment of scholars or the sacrifice of human dignity, adding that while repression may silence voices, “it can never imprison the truth or extinguish the people’s struggle for freedom.”
His comments came amid a wave of demonstrations across Bahrain demanding the release of detained Shia scholars. Protests over the weekend spread through Sitra Island, Al-Hamala, Al-Markh and Iskan Ali, where demonstrators carried portraits of imprisoned clerics and Sheikh Isa Qassim, the country's leading Shia leader who is currently based in Iran.
Organizers dubbed the demonstrations a “Day of Popular Anger,” demanding the release of all detainees, particularly religious scholars, and the dismissal of charges against them. Regime forces responded with arrests, detaining at least 25 people through raids and summonses.
Meanwhile, a local court decided to postpone its verdict until November 22 against 69 defendants, 60 of them clerics, accused of forming a “terrorist group” and “plotting against the constitutional order.”
Fifty-six defendants remained in custody, while 13 clerics were being tried in absentia in measures deemed unconstitutional by rights advocates.
The arbitrary proceedings have raised serious concerns among international human rights organizations. The World Organisation Against Torture has said the trials are marred by reports of torture, while other rights groups have pointed to the use of forced confessions.
Testimonies documented by the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy describe defendants being subjected to forced standing, prolonged blindfolding and handcuffing, sleep deprivation, and threats of physical and sexual violence against them and their families.
Twenty human rights organizations have called on Bahraini authorities to release those arbitrarily detained, drop charges connected to peaceful religious activities, and investigate reports of torture and mistreatment.
Similarity of Manama’s approach to that of Israel
Al-Shayeb condemned Bahrain’s revocation of citizenship and forced deportation of citizens, describing such measures as violations of fundamental rights and international law.
“The revocation of citizenship and the forced deportation of citizens from their homeland constitute a flagrant violation of international law and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” he told the Press TV website, stressing that citizenship was not a political privilege that an authoritarian regime could withdraw at will.
He drew a comparison between Bahrain’s policies and those of the Israeli occupation in Palestine, saying they reflect the same approach to dispossession and forced displacement.
“What we are witnessing in Bahrain is identical in methodology and mentality to the practices of the Zionist entity in Palestine: the same logic of dispossession, the same policy of forced displacement, and the same attempt to strip people of their identity and legitimate belonging to their homeland. Different actors, but the same oppressive mindset,” he said.
Al-Shayeb added that stripping people of their citizenship could not erase their national identity, dignity or legitimate rights, stressing that a homeland belongs to its people, not an authoritarian ruler.
The crackdown has renewed concerns over a longstanding pattern of repression targeting Bahrain’s Shia community, which, ironically, constitutes the majority of the country’s population.
Nocturnal raids on clerics’ homes began on May 9, while Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain has documented the detention of 53 clerics.
Sheikh Qassim, whose citizenship was revoked in 2016, has urged supporters to stand behind the defendants peacefully.
Meanwhile, two Bahraini rights groups told AFP that more than 200 people, most of them Shia, had been detained since the US-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28.
Reuters also reported that 69 citizens of Iranian descent had been stripped of their nationality for condemning the war of aggression.
The current crackdown echoes the 2011 suppression of Bahrain’s pro-democracy movement, when the Western-backed monarchy crushed popular demands for an elected government with the assistance of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Saudi Arabia deployed around 1,000 troops across the King Fahd Causeway in March 2011, while the UAE sent approximately 500 security personnel.
‘Silence is complicity’
Al-Shayeb urged Muslims, Islamic organizations and international institutions to take a more active stand against the persecution of Shias in Bahrain, stressing that expressions of concern alone were not enough.
He said Islamic organizations and international bodies had a responsibility to expose the ruling regime’s actions, mobilize public opinion and issue unequivocal warnings to the Al Khalifa authorities about the consequences of continuing their repressive policies.
“They must build a powerful international public opinion that exposes the systematic violations and strips the Al Khalifa regime of its false image, revealing the reality of its oppression and political persecution,” he said.
“Silence in the face of injustice is complicity, and defending the oppressed is both a moral and humanitarian responsibility.”
He particularly urged international human rights institutions to move beyond statements of concern and pursue independent investigations, document rampant rights violations, demand the immediate and unconditional release of scholars and prisoners of conscience, and hold Bahraini authorities accountable through international legal and diplomatic mechanisms.
He said sustained pressure was also needed to end the ongoing religious persecution, arbitrary arrests, torture and political repression, stressing that the prosecution of Shia scholars and political prisoners was not a series of isolated incidents but part of a systematic and organized policy pursued by the ruling authorities for decades.
Al-Shayeb further warned that the crackdown reflects systematic sectarian exclusion and an attempt at demographic and religious engineering targeting Bahrain’s predominantly Shia population.
He said the international community has a moral, legal and humanitarian responsibility to confront these hostile policies, warning that silence and inaction amount to complicity.
Bahraini regime’s strategic ties with Western powers have also featured in the international context surrounding the ongoing crackdown. The US Navy’s Fifth Fleet is headquartered in Manama, and Washington has designated Bahrain a major non-NATO ally since 2002. The United States has also used its military bases in Persian Gulf countries, including Bahrain, to launch attacks against Iran.
Repression will only strengthen Bahrainis’ resolve
Meanwhile, Al-Shayeb rejected the notion that the Al Khalifa regime’s measures could eliminate the opposition or suppress the Bahraini people’s political demands.
He added that targeting religious institutions and sidelining scholars, Islamic leaders and national figures would only deepen the regime’s crisis of legitimacy and strengthen popular resolve.
“Dictatorship and repression have never succeeded in extinguishing any liberation movement in history; rather, they have often fueled resistance and transformed struggles into the causes of generations,” he said.
He described a regime that banks on imprisonment, exclusion and persecution to silence its population as pursuing a historical illusion, adding that just demands could not be erased by imprisoning those who advocated them or marginalizing religious and national leaders.
The opposition figure said the people of Bahrain, particularly followers of the School of Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them), draw strength from a profound historical and ideological legacy embodied in the enduring slogan, “Hayhat Minna al-Dhilla” which means “Far from us is humiliation.”
“This is a principle that prisons cannot extinguish and repression cannot break. Freedom, dignity, and justice are fundamental rights, and Bahrain’s political demands will remain alive until the people achieve their aspirations for freedom, justice, and dignity,” Al-Shayeb said.
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