Bahrain jails teachers’ leaders and handball players for dissent

Bahrain has jailed the head of the teachers’ union for ten years and his deputy for three for inciting hatred against the Gulf kingdom’s ruling monarchy and calling for its overthrow during protests earlier this year. Union chairman Mehdi Issa Mohammed Abu Deeb and his deputy, Jalila Mohammed Reza al-Salman, were found guilty of disrupting schooling, broadcasting false news and threatening national security by encouraging protest marches and sit-ins. Bahrain’s Sunni Muslim rulers in March quashed protests led by the country’s Shi’ite majority demanding an end to sectarian discrimination and a greater say in government.

At the government’s request, fellow Sunni states Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates sent troops to help stamp out the demonstrations. In the ensuing crackdown, at least 30 people were killed, hundreds wounded and more than 1,000 detained – mostly Shi’ites.

Also jailed yesterday were two members of Bahrain’s handball team. Brothers Mohammed and Ali Mirza were jailed for 15 years after being charged with taking part in the protests. Their father, Mirza Salman Abdulla, called the charges “nonsense.”